Summarize this article:

May 31, 2014 11:10 PM

 NEW YORK(CBSNewYork) — A horrifying scene unfolded at the Hudson River Greenway near 165th Street on Thursday afternoon.

 It involved Omotayo Adeoye, a student at the High School for Math, Science and Engineering at City College in Harlem.

 play pause Horrified Onlookers Watch As Teen Wades Into Hudson River, Disappears

 1010 WINS' Roger Stern Reports

 As 1010 WINS’ Roger Stern reported, the teen began handing her clothes to bystanders, left her identification on a rock, and began wading into the Hudson River.

 Adeoye, of the Bronx, was caught using her cell phone during a test at school, CBS 2 reported.

 A classmate said the teacher yelled at Adeoye, who then apologized.

 play pause Horrified Onlookers Watch As Teen Wades Into Hudson River, Disappears

 WCBS 880's Ginny Kosola reports.

 Investigators said she then wrote a suicide note and asked to go to the bathroom.

 But instead, she walked to the Hudson River’s edge at West 165th Street and jumped in, CBS 2 reported.

 Witnesses pleaded with the teen to come out of the water. She did not, and eventually disappeared, Stern reported.

 “She’s a very bright young lady who has a lot of hopes, a lot of vision in life. She wanted to become a medical doctor,” said family friend Godspower Izghe.

 The Department of Education is launching an investigation into the incident.

 The schools chancellor is promising a new look at student mental health awareness.

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 A distraught student left her elite high school in Harlem between classes on Thursday, classmates and witnesses said, and went to Fort Washington Park, along the Hudson River. She laid her phone and wallet on a rock on the bank of the river. She walked into the water and sank beneath the surface.

 The police on Saturday said they were looking for a female who went into the water on Thursday near the park, but did not identify her. As of Saturday evening, search teams had not recovered a body.

 Classmates identified the girl as Omotayo Adeoye, 17, a junior at the High School for Math, Science and Engineering at City College. She left the school after she was confronted by a teacher who believed she was cheating on a test, a close friend and a person briefed on the matter said.

 Miss Adeoye was sitting in the back of a German class during the test when her teacher noticed her using her phone, they said. The teacher confronted Miss Adeoye and took away the device.

 Miss Adeoye “said she was sorry,” said her close friend, Nhia Solari, who was also in the class. “The teacher said she was going to tell the dean that she was cheating,” Miss Solari said.

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 The students shared the next class, too, Miss Solari said, “but I didn’t see her after that.”

 Miss Adeoye was described as an excellent student. She played basketball and soccer. She was one of three students selected last summer for a research fellowship at City College’s Grove School of Engineering.

 On Facebook, her friends left warm messages.

 “You were a very intelligent and funny girl,” Natasha Kowlessar wrote on Facebook. “Whether you were joking about chasing cheetahs, making memes or trolling college pages, you never failed to make those around you laugh.”

 On Saturday a group of three men and two women, who said they knew Miss Adeoye, went to the edge of the river to pay her tribute. They declined to comment or be named.

 Just offshore, a blue-and-white police boat sat anchored much of the afternoon. A smaller, gray police boat traced the shoreline, past picnickers and joggers, from 145th Street to the George Washington Bridge.

 A city parks employee, who declined to give his name, said the scene on Thursday was chaotic, as police officers and firefighters ran after a fisherman who frantically pointed to where he saw Miss Adeoye disappear.

 “This happens a lot here,” he said. Fishermen in the park on Saturday said they had seen the girl place her belongings on the rock, then walk into the water wearing all her clothes.

 Fabio Martinez, 71, a fisherman, said he tried to stop her.

 “I said, ‘Come here, come here, don’t go to the water,’ ” he said. “She was just crying, crying all the time.” ||||| Student at competitive NYC high school commits suicide after being caught cheating

 By Scott Kaufman

 Sunday, June 1, 2014 12:56 EDT

 A promising student at one of the most competitive public high schools in New York City killed herself after she was caught cheating on a German exam on Thursday.

 According to authorities, 17-year-old Omotayo Adeoye allegedly wrote a suicide note on her German-language exam that read, “I just want to go away forever on the bottom of the river.”

 Adeoye, a student at the Harlem High School for Math, Science and Engineering, was caught using her cellphone by teacher Eva Malikova, who snatched it away from her. A male classmate told the New York Post that Malikova yelled, “Oh, you shouldn’t be cheating! You guys shouldn’t be cheating! You guys are lying to yourselves!”

 “I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Adeoye allegedly yelled, before scrawling her suicide note on the test and running out of the classroom, never to return.

 The school reported her disappearance at 4:20 p.m., but by that time, authorities believe she had already been dead for almost an hour.

 Adeoye left the classroom, then the school and walked to the edge of the Hudson River at West 165th Street. She placed her school ID on a rock, then jumped in the water.

 Her father told police that his daughter did not know how to swim.

 Several students said that on Friday the teacher who caught her cheating, Eva Malikova, could be heard screaming in anguish, and did not teach any classes.

 Watch a report on Adeoye’s tragic death from ABC 7 News below. |||||

– A student at an elite Harlem high school allegedly killed herself on Thursday after she was caught cheating on an exam and cried out, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Omotayo Adeoye, 17, a student at the High School for Math, Science, and Engineering at City College, was caught using her cell phone during a German-language exam, Raw Story reports. "Oh, you shouldn't be cheating!" yelled the teacher, Eva Malikova, a classmate told the New York Post. When Omotayo apologized, Malikova allegedly snapped: "Oh, you are not really sorry. That's not a sincere apology!" Authorities say the junior wrote a suicide note on the exam, saying she wanted "to go away forever on the bottom of the river," asked to use the bathroom, and left the school. She then walked to the Hudson River at West 165th Street, where she put her school ID on a rock, ignored the cries of panicked fishermen, and leaped in the water. Witnesses told police that the Bronx girl—who couldn't swim, her father says—bobbed on the water and seemed to force herself under. "I said, 'Come here, come here, don’t go to the water,'" a 71-year-old fisherman told the New York Times. "She was just crying, crying all the time." Several students said they heard her teacher, Malikova, screaming in anguish at school the next day. Search teams still hadn't recovered Omotayo's body as of Saturday night. CBS New York reports the Department of Education is investigating.


Here is a news article: Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period. ||||| For a growing number of medical startups, the holy grail is to develop technology that can diagnose hundreds of diseases with a single drop of blood.

 Many people are squeamish about getting their blood drawn by traditional methods, such as inserting a long needle into a vein. And in developing countries, health clinics are eager for "lab on a chip" diagnostics that can be done without piercing a vein.

 But researchers are finding myriad challenges with relying on a single blood drop. In a recent experiment, scientists at Rice 360° Institute for Global Health took seven drops of blood from 10 individuals. They tested each blood drop for basic health measures, such as hemoglobin and platelet counts, and found a wide range of results between drops that came from the same person.

 "These data suggest caution when using measurements from a single drop of fingerprick blood," researchers Meaghan M. Bond and Rebecca R. Richards-Kortum concluded in The American Journal of Clinical Pathology.

 Bond and Richards-Kortum told the New York Times that in order to achieve results as accurate as conventional methods—the venous blood draw—they had to average six to nine drops of blood from each individual.

 In recent months, Theranos, a company that hoped to revolutionize the blood-testing industry, has come under fire from federal regulators. Theranos's CEO Elizabeth Holmes once promised to detect dozens of medical conditions, from high cholesterol to cancer, based on a few drops of blood.

 San Diego-based Genalyte is also working on a diagnostics system to produce test results from a single blood drop. But unlike Theranos, Genalyte has generated a number of peer-reviewed studies to validate its approach. The company is focusing initially on autoimmune diseases, such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. |||||
A summary of this is?

– As doctors shift away from drawing vials of blood from patients and rely on lab-on-a-chip diagnostics that identify a myriad of conditions using a single drop of blood, there's now concern that not all of your blood is equal. A new study in the American Journal of Clinical Pathology suggests "caution when using measurements from a single drop of fingerprick blood," write researchers at Rice 360° Institute for Global Health: Our blood can change rather dramatically from one drop to the next. Researchers tested seven drops of blood from each of 10 participants and analyzed them for basic health metrics such as platelet counts and hemoglobin, and found a pretty wide range of results—so much so that they had to average the results from six to nine drops to rival the accuracy of a larger blood draw from a vein, reports the New York Times. "If you’re going to take a fingerprick stick to get your measures, you need to be aware that you’re sacrificing some accuracy," one of the researchers warns. The results have implications for startups like Theranos and Genalyte, which hope to diagnose diseases using only one drop. Unlike Theranos, however, Genalyte has produced results via peer-reviewed studies on tests to find autoimmune diseases such as lupus, reports Fast Company. (The Theranos founder dropped out of college at 19 to start the company.)


– Donald Trump's lawyer has apparently decided that it's his turn to make the gaffes. In an interview with CNN Wednesday, notoriously combative Trump Organization attorney Michael Cohen interrupted host Brianna Keilar when she said that the campaign was "down," Politico reports. "Says who?" he asked. "Polls. Most of them. All of them?" she replied. "Says who?" Cohen asked again. When she repeated it was polls, he responded, "OK, which polls?” and Keilar said: “All of them." USA Today reports that Twitter users were quick to mock Cohen and are now replying "Says who?" to all his tweets. Cohen, in what Law Newz calls "typical lawyer fashion," also took issue with Trump's overhaul of campaign staff being called a "shake-up," insisting it was actually a "change-up." Cohen also raised eyebrows when he told Kielar that Trump knows about "the African-American problem in this country," the Independent reports. "What I meant to say is the problem that exists in the African-American community," he later said. (Michael Moore says he "knows for a fact" that Trump never really wanted to be president.)

Expand this summary.

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 This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. ||||| Donald Trump's aide Michael Cohen said that the Republican nominee knows about the “African American problem” in the US.

 The interview blunder came shortly after the news broke that Mr Trump’s campaign staff had undergone a major shake-up to win back favour in the polls.

 "It is certainly an issue - the African American problem in this country," Mr Cohen said on CNN, referring to Mr Trump’s law and order speech in Milwaukee following the killing of black man 23-year-old Sylville Smith and ensuing riots.

 "What I meant to say is the problem that exists in the African American community," Mr Cohen later clarified.

 He added that Mr Trump was “colourblind”, but was aware of the racial tensions in the US.

 In an awkward exchange, Mr Trump’s special counsel was asked about the Republican nominee's low ratings in the polls.

 "Says who?" Mr Cohen fired back.

 "Polls. Most of them. All of them?" replied anchor Brianna Keilar.

 "Says who?" he asked again.

 "Polls. I just told you. I just answered your question."

 "Says who?" Donald Trump aide Michael Cohen questions polls that show the businessman trailing Hillary Clinton https://t.co/Ri6l5akJEC — CNN (@CNN) August 17, 2016

 "Ok. Which polls?" he asked.

 "All of them."

 The interview has done little to assure Trump voters that his campaign is back on track after suffering low ratings versus Hillary Clinton in swing states like Virginia.

 Three months before the election, Mr Trump has added two officials to oversee the campaign including Breitbart News executive chairman, Steve Bannon, and Kellyanne Conway, now campaign manager.

 Former campaign manager Paul Manafort, who was only appointed in April, will remain chairman.

 Roger Ailes, the fired head of Fox News, will also act as a Trump adviser.

 The shake-up comes just a few months after Mr Trump dismissed Corey Lewandowski, who is now a political commentator on CNN. ||||| Michael Cohen, Donald Trump's lawyer, repeatedly asked CNN "says who?" when an anchor said Trump was down. | Getty Trump lawyer on polls showing him losing: 'Says who?'

 Asked about Donald Trump’s decision to hire a pair of new senior campaign officials amid his growing polling deficit, the Manhattan billionaire’s attorney’s incredulous response was “says who?”

 In an interview on Wednesday afternoon, substitute CNN host Brianna Keilar asked Trump Organization Executive Vice President Michael Cohen about the hiring of campaign manager Kellyanne Conway and CEO Stephen Bannon, widely perceived as a shakeup intended to remedy the Republican nominee’s struggling campaign.

 Story Continued Below

 Cohen balked at the idea that the hires constituted any kind of shakeup and interrupted Keilar in the middle of a follow-up question when she said, “You say it is not a shakeup but you guys are down.”

 “Says who?” said Cohen, whose job description also includes serving as Trump’s special counsel.

 “Polls. Most of them. All of them?” an incredulous Keilar responded, sounding surprised that Cohen would refuse to even acknowledge the notion that Trump’s campaign had fallen behind that of Hillary Clinton.

 “Says who?” Cohen asked again, to which Keilar replied, “Polls. I just told you. I answered your question.”

 Unsatisfied, Cohen followed up: “OK, which polls?”

 “All of them,” the CNN host said.

 “OK,” Cohen said. “And your question is?”

 With the back-and-forth finished, Keilar asked what the hiring of Conway and Bannon signified if not a campaign shakeup.

 “I think bringing on someone like Kellyanne Conway was a great move, and it was something, personally, I would have liked to see happen earlier,” Cohen said. “But the campaign wasn’t ready for it. Now they are. I think she is a brilliant individual. I think that she understands the data that’s coming in.” ||||| 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 ||||| Twitter responds #SaysWho to Trump’s lawyer’s ‘Says who?'

 On Twitter, the question of the day is #SaysWho?

 The trend started after CNN's Brianna Keilar interviewed Trump Organization lawyer Michael Cohen about the hiring of campaign manager Kellyanne Conway and CEO Stephen Bannon. The following ensued when Cohen questioned exactly who claimed Trump is down in the polls.

 When asked about being down in the race, Trump adviser replies, "Says who?"https://t.co/HO9wqbdDWRhttps://t.co/C2UzSDdUo4 — The Situation Room (@CNNSitRoom) August 17, 2016

 Keilar: "You say it’s not a shake-up, but you guys are down —"

 Cohen: "Says who? Says who?"

 Keilar: "Polls. Most of them. All of them?"

 Cohen: "Says who?"

 Keilar: "Polls. I just told you. I answered your question."

 Cohen: "Okay. Which polls?"

 Keilar: "All of them."

 *walks up to Michael Cohen's door*

 "Knock knock."

 "Who's there?"

 "Says."

 "Says who?"

 "THE POLLS. ALL OF THEM." — (((Danielle))) (@abradacabla) August 17, 2016

 Actually, it's "says whom" — Simon Owens (@simonowens) August 17, 2016

 Polls — Alex Bedder (@itgetsbedder) August 17, 2016

 "Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time."

 "Says who?"

 "Polls. Most of them. All of them." — Alp Ozcelik (@alplicable) August 17, 2016

 Hillary Clinton is ahead in most polls, most recently according to Quinnipiac University polls out Wednesday, she leads by double-digits in Virginia and Colorado and also edges Trump in Iowa.

 But Trump is winning at least one poll on Wednesday, A Monmouth University poll of Indiana found he was ahead of Clinton by 11 points in the state, 47%-36%. Trump’s running mate is the state's governor, Mike Pence, and Indiana generally votes Republican (though it did support Barack Obama in 2008). Bonus Trump-led poll: the Iowa State Fair corn poll.

 The exchange on CNN ended with Cohen's statement on Trump's campaign changes: “I think bringing on someone like Kellyanne Conway was a great move, and it was something, personally, I would have liked to see happen earlier,” he said. “But the campaign wasn’t ready for it. Now they are. I think she is a brilliant individual. I think that she understands the data that’s coming in.”

 Twitter users are now spamming Cohen, replying “Says who?” in response to all his tweets.

 Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/2bCOp8l ||||| Donald Trump’s attack dog attorney, Michael Cohen, had a major bone to pick with CNN’s Brianna Keilar on her program Wednesday afternoon. In typical lawyer fashion, Cohen had an issue with semantics. He was upset with how the media was characterizing the shake up which resulted in Trump appointing new campaign leaders. Cohen insisted that the “change up” was not, in fact, “a shake up.” Earlier today, Trump’s campaign announced Stephen Bannon, the head of Breitbart News, would become Trump’s campaign chief executive, and Kellyanne Conway would take over as the campaign manager. During the segment, Keilar pushed back saying the campaign was “down.” Cohen pushed back: “says who?” Keilar replied “polls.” And things, well, got pretty awkward.

 Watch below (tensions really start right off the top and around 5:20):

 Michael Cohen is Executive Vice President and Special Counsel to Donald J. Trump. He has been notoriously aggressive defending Trump against media, threatening to sue multiple organizations over stories (including this one). Interestingly, he was a registered Democrat who voted for Barack Obama in 2008. |||||


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As American retailers face mounting pressure to join a landmark plan to improve factory safety in Bangladesh, newly found documents indicate that apparel had been produced for Wal-Mart at one of the operations in the factory building that collapsed last month, killing more than 1,100 workers.

 The Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity has provided The New York Times with photos of several documents not disputed by Wal-Mart that were recovered in the building’s rubble, showing that a Wal-Mart contractor from Canada had produced jeans last year at the Ether Tex factory, which had been situated on the fifth floor of the collapsed Rana Plaza building.

 While both the contractor and Wal-Mart denied any knowledge of the production orders there, Wal-Mart on Tuesday announced that it would put in place new safety measures at the factories it was using in Bangladesh.

 Saying it was unwilling to sign on to the broad safety plan embraced by more than a dozen European companies this week, Wal-Mart said its factory monitors would “conduct in-depth safety inspections at 100 percent” of the 279 factories it uses in Bangladesh and publicize the results on its Web site.

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 Wal-Mart promised to stop production immediately at factories if urgent safety problems were uncovered and to notify factory owners and government authorities of improvements. But the company, the world’s largest retailer, stopped short of committing to help underwrite the improvements — one of the crucial aspects of the Bangladesh safety agreement adopted by European companies.

 On Tuesday, Carrefour, the world’s second largest retailer, Benetton, Marks & Spencer and El Corte Inglés, the Spanish department store chain, joined major retailers like H&M; and Inditex, the parent of Zara, in signing on to the safety agreement. The plan requires companies to have rigorous independent inspections and to help pay for fire safety upgrades, like adding fire escapes, which many factories still lack.

 But Wal-Mart and numerous other American retailers and apparel companies have sought to maintain a distance from the April 24 building collapse, and have balked at the worker safety agreement urged by consumer and labor groups.

 Wal-Mart maintained on Tuesday that it had no involvement at the Rana Plaza building, playing down the newly discovered documents.

 One document, dated May 12, 2012, that was found in the rubble detailed a purchase order by a Canadian company, Fame Jeans, for “dark blue wash,” “skinny fit” jeans to be delivered to Wal-Mart in the fall of 2012. Another document, dated April 27, 2012, discussed pricing for five styles of jeans, with the prices ranging from $3.41 to $4.50 a pair.

 But Wal-Mart emphasized that the documents dated back a year. “Our investigation of the Rana Plaza building site after the collapse revealed no evidence of authorized or unauthorized production at the time of the tragedy,” said Kevin Gardner, a Wal-Mart spokesman. He declined to say on Tuesday whether the Ether Tex factory, as well as the Fame Jeans order there, were authorized.

 After The Times questioned Wal-Mart about the documents on Tuesday, Alen Brandman, chief executive of Fame Jeans, said in an interview, “It’s very clear that Wal-Mart did not authorize me in any capacity to work within this factory.” He blamed a “rogue employee” for the order, who had decided to use the factory without Mr. Brandman’s knowledge.

 He said after that order “no other product came out” of that factory “for us or for Wal-Mart.”

 After a fire last November at another Bangladesh garment factory that killed 112 workers, numerous documents showed that six suppliers had clothes made there for Wal-Mart in previous months. Wal-Mart said it had deauthorized the factory because of violations and had terminated its relationship with the suppliers that continued using the factory after it was deauthorized.

 Judy Gearhart, executive director of the International Labor Rights Forum, an advocacy group in Washington, faulted Wal-Mart for again trying to distance itself from the building collapse just as it sought to do after the November fire. “It’s another example of Wal-Mart’s lack of ability to track the specifics of its supply chain,” she said.

 At the time of the building collapse, Wal-Mart was listed as a customer on Ether Tex’s Web site, another link that advocacy groups were using to try to pressure the retailer, Gap, Target and other American companies to sign onto the safety plan. The only non-European companies to sign are PVH, the parent company of Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, and Loblaw of Canada.

 By far, Gap has been the most vocal company opposed to the plan, expressing concerns that overzealous American lawyers could seize on the agreement to sue American companies on behalf of aggrieved factory workers in Bangladesh — perhaps in the event of a factory fire. Gap said it supported much of the plan, but it proposed changes that would greatly limit any legal liability for a company that violated the plan.

 Under Gap’s proposal, if a retailer were found to have violated the agreement, the only remedy would generally be public expulsion from the factory safety plan.

 “The U.S. is quite litigious,” said Bill Chandler, a Gap spokesman. “We put forward specific proposals that we thought would bring other American retailers into the fold. We thought it would be a step forward and would turn it into a much more global agreement.”

 Consumer and labor groups said Gap’s concerns about litigation were overblown. They complained that Gap’s stance against the agreement had helped to dissuade other American companies from signing.

 “Gap’s demand is that the agreement be made unenforceable — and therefore meaningless,” said Scott Nova, executive director of the Worker Rights Consortium, a group sponsored by 175 colleges and universities. “What Gap wants is the right to renege on its commitments when it wishes.”

 Some advocates say the European retailers signed the joint accord more readily than the Americans because Europe accounts for 60 percent of Bangladesh apparel exports and the United States one-fourth.

 Wal-Mart also expressed concerns about the joint Bangladesh safety plan, saying it “introduces requirements, including governance and dispute resolution mechanisms, on supply chain matters that are appropriately left to retailers, suppliers and government, and are unnecessary to achieve fire and safety goals.”

 Wal-Mart added that its plan either meets or “exceeds” the group safety plan, and would get quicker results.

 The retailer said its factory inspectors would examine electrical systems for any flaws — a major cause of factory fires in Bangladesh — and would review building design and permits to help avoid future collapses. Those inspections would include thermal circuit imaging of factories’ electrical systems to analyze for problems.

 “Wal-Mart is committed to a global supply chain that first and foremost provides safe conditions for workers,” said Rajan Kamalanathan, vice president of ethical sourcing for Wal-Mart. “Wal-Mart is focusing directly on the most urgent issue, and that’s worker safety. We invite others to join us in this effort.”

 Wal-Mart praised the Bangladeshi government for closing 18 factories that had safety violations. The company said that based on its information none of those factories were making authorized apparel for Wal-Mart, although three of those factories were owned by the Nassa Group, which claims Wal-Mart and Sears as customers and is Bangladesh’s largest exporter.

 Mr. Nova voiced skepticism that Wal-Mart’s initiative would significantly improve worker safety. “It is a unilateral initiative that’s nonbinding and unenforceable, and it’s unclear how much transparency there will be,” he said. “If all of this stuff happens, there’s substance, but there’s no basis to believe it will all happen.” ||||| Wal-Mart Stores Inc. broke with major European retailers on Tuesday by announcing its own plan for improving safety at Bangladesh garment factories. The plan is billed as a commitment, but is different from the legally-binding pact meant to prevent disasters like the building collapse that killed more than 1,100 garment workers last month.

 Under its plan, Wal-Mart said it would hire an outside auditor to inspect 279 Bangladesh factories and publish results on its website by June 1. When fire and building safety issues are found, Wal-Mart said it will require factory owners to make necessary renovations or risk being removed from its list of authorized factories.

 In declining to go along with the other retailers, Wal-Mart—like Gap Inc. earlier this week—cited that accord's legally binding provisions.

 Vote

 On Tuesday, the five-year Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, negotiated with worker-safety groups and labor unions and some major European retail chains, drew support from at least six more retailers, including Canada's Loblaw Cos., whose Joe Fresh clothing was found in the building's rubble.

 Wal-Mart will pay for factory audits, which will be conducted by Bureau Veritas, a European inspection company. The retailer won't pay for renovations but will "expect the cost of safety improvements to be reflected in the cost of goods we buy," said Rajan Kamalanathan, Wal-Mart's head of ethical sourcing, in an interview.

 "We don't want anyone to cut corners to put workers safety in jeopardy," he said.

 Nearly three weeks after a factory collapse killed more than 1,100 people, the world’s biggest clothing companies are committing to safety standards that could play a key role in policing the country’s main industry. Andria Cheng reports.

 Americans' appetite for cheap clothes led to a manufacturing boom in Bangladesh, and the race to add capacity set the stage for the series of horrific accidents. Ann Zimmerman reports. Photo: AP.

 Meanwhile, J.C. Penney Co., Sears Holdings Corp. and a number of other North American brands have been drafting their own safety plan. Details of that plan are still evolving, said Jonathan Gold, vice president of supply chain and customs policy at the National Retail Federation, a U.S. trade group.

 The proliferation of competing proposals may undermine their effectiveness, some experts said, and voluntary efforts have a poor track record. "Without the legally binding contract that the European retailers have signed, it's just putting lipstick on a pig," said Bob Ross, a critic of sweatshops who teaches sociology at Clark University in Worcester, Mass.

 Some U.S. retailers are uncomfortable with the accord because they could be liable in U.S. courts if they fail to adhere to the provisions, according to one person familiar with the matter.

 Enlarge Image Close Xinhua/Zuma Press Army personnel Tuesday at the site of collapsed Rana Plaza building on the outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh.

 Gap had cited that legal liability issue as the reason it hasn't signed the accord. It has proposed an amendment to the pact that would replace the legally binding language with a provision that retailers that failed to live up to the standards be publicly expelled from the program.

 "We are six sentences away from signing the accord that's been proposed and remain cautiously optimistic that we will move down that path," a Gap spokesman said.

 Sears said it would continue "participating in discussions on the Accord as updates are made and more information is available, but is not prepared to sign the current proposal."

 Enlarge Image Close Agence France-Presse/Getty Images The retail giant said it will make public a list of more than 250 factories whose authorization to produce goods for Wal-Mart has already been revoked.

 The sponsors of the safety pact said they had met their goal of signing up enough retailers to cover 1,000 of the roughly 5,000 garment factories in Bangladesh and still expect more to sign on. Among the new signers on Tuesday were Italy's Benetton Group SpA, Spain's Mango MNG Holding SL and El Corte Ingles, France's Carrefour SA, and Marks & Spencer in the U.K. PVH Corp., the parent of Calvin Klein, Hennes & Mauritz AB and Inditex, parent of the Zara fast-fashion chain, had announced on Monday they were signing the accord.

 Wal-Mart is among the biggest customers of Bangladeshi garment factories, which has grown into a $20 billion a year business.

 Wal-Mart said its safety plan meets or exceeds the proposal and "will get results more quickly," a spokesman said. The other plan endorsed by the European retailers "introduces requirements, including governance and dispute resolution mechanisms, on supply chain matters that are appropriately left to retailers, suppliers and government, and are unnecessary to achieve fire and safety goals," he said.

 Under the accord, a governing board will include three labor representatives, three retailer representatives and a chairman chosen by the U.N. International Labor Organization. The board will oversee safety inspections of up to 5,000 factories over two years, with the results to be made public.

 The board also will oversee dispute resolution between retailers and union representatives, which will be subject to arbitration with decisions enforceable in a court of law in the country of the retailer. To implement the accord, each company's cost will be based on how much they produce in Bangladesh. Participation will cost each company a maximum of $2.5 million over the five-year period, according to a draft of the agreement.

 Wal-Mart on Tuesday made public a list of more than 250 factories whose authorization to produce goods for Wal-Mart has already been revoked, though it isn't saying why they are no longer approved.

 "Audits aren't cheap and we pay for them ourselves," said Mr. Kamalanathan, in an interview. "By sharing fire safety and building inspections between the brands, retailers won't have to duplicate efforts."

 He said Wal-Mart wants to encourage retailers to work together by publishing audit results, so other clothing buyers are aware of Wal-Mart's concerns.

 Wal-Mart will also set up an independent call center for garment workers to report unsafe conditions and conduct fire safety training for every worker in the Bangladesh factories that make clothes for the U.S. retailing giant.

 James A. Gross, professor of labor relations at Cornell University said using an outside auditor "frees the company of any independent supervision or assessment of what they are doing," he said.

 Write to Shelly Banjo at shelly.banjo@wsj.com, Ann Zimmerman at ann.zimmerman@wsj.com and Suzanne Kapner at Suzanne.Kapner@wsj.com

 A version of this article appeared May 15, 2013, on page B1 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Wal-Mart Crafts Own Bangladesh Safety Plan. |||||

– Major European retailers are lining up to sign a Bangladesh safety plan aimed at preventing disasters like Rana Plaza, but American companies, including the Gap and Walmart, are backing away. Walmart—which blames a "rogue employee" for an order for its clothes found in the rubble of the building collapse—says it has its own safety plan for the 279 factories it uses in Bangladesh, and it will quickly deliver results as good as or better than the European plan, the New York Times reports. Walmart plans to audit factories for safety and remove them from its suppliers list if hazards are found. But while the European plan is legally binding, Walmart's is voluntary, and experts say such plans have a poor record for delivering results. "Without the legally binding contract that the European retailers have signed, it's just putting lipstick on a pig," a sociology professor who has been a vocal critic of sweatshops tells the Wall Street Journal. The Gap, meanwhile, says it won't sign the European plan unless language is removed that it fears could make it liable in US courts for safety failures at Bangladesh factories. The only American firm to have signed the plan so far is PVH, the parent company of Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger.


Article:

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor (AP)

 Vice President Biden has chosen Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor to swear him in later this month, making her the fourth woman and first Hispanic to administer the presidential or vice-presidential oath.

 President Obama will stick with tradition and be sworn in by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. The two stumbled through the ceremony four years ago, and had to take a do-over later to make sure constitutional standards were met.

 The Presidential Inaugural Committee made the announcement Friday morning. The justices will administer the oaths to Obama and Biden twice, at the "private" swearing-in on the constitutionally mandated date of Sunday, Jan. 20, and again during the public ceremony on Monday, Jan. 21.

 The committee said three women have previously sworn in presidents and vice presidents: Judge Sarah T. Hughes swore in President Johnson in 1963; Justice Sandra Day O’Connor swore in Vice President Dan Quayle in 1989; and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg swore-in Vice President Al Gore in 1997.

 "It's an incredible honor to have Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor swear me in,” Vice President Biden said. “I believed strongly that she would make a great Justice, and it was one of the greatest pleasures of my career to be involved in her selection to the Court. From the first time I met her, I was impressed by Justice Sotomayor’s commitment to justice and opportunity for all Americans, and she continues to exemplify those values today. Above all, I’m happy for the chance to be sworn in by a friend – and someone I know will continue to do great things.” ||||| FILE - In this Jan. 20, 2009, file photo, Barack Obama, left, takes the oath of office from Chief Justice John Roberts, not seen, as his wife Michelle, holds the Lincoln Bible and daughters Sasha, right... (Associated Press)

 Formally embarking on his second term, President Barack Obama will take the oath of office Sunday surrounded by family in an intimate inauguration at the White House, 24 hours before re-enacting the ceremony before an excited crowd of hundreds of thousands outdoors at the Capitol.

 The subdued swearing-in is a function of the calendar and the Constitution, which says presidents automatically begin their new terms at noon on Jan. 20. Because that date fell this year on a Sunday _ a day on which inaugural ceremonies historically are not held _ organizers scheduled a second, public swearing-in for Monday.

 A crowd of up to 800,000 people is expected to gather on the National Mall to witness that event, which will take place on the Capitol's red, white and blue bunting-draped west front. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who famously flubbed the oath of office that Obama took in 2009, will swear the president in both days.

 Vice President Joe Biden will also be sworn in Sunday in a small, early morning ceremony at the Naval Observatory, his official residence. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who was appointed by Obama during his first term, will administer the oath of office to the vice president.

 Once the celebrations are over, Obama will plunge into a second-term agenda still dominated by the economy, which slowly churned out of recession during his first four years in office. The president will also seek to cement his legacy with sweeping domestic changes, pledging to achieve both an immigration overhaul and stricter gun laws despite opposition from a divided Congress.

 But for one weekend at least, Washington was putting politics aside. Obama called the nation's inaugural traditions "a symbol of how our democracy works and how we peacefully transfer power."

 "But it should also be an affirmation that we're all in this together," he said Saturday, as he opened a weekend of inaugural activities at a Washington elementary school.

 Only a small group of family members is expected to attend Obama's Sunday swearing-in, including first lady Michelle Obama and daughters Malia and Sasha. A small group of reporters will also be in the room to witness the event.

 Roberts will administer the oath of office shortly before noon in the White House Blue Room, an oval space with majestic views of the South Lawn and the Washington Monument. Named for the color of the drapes, upholstery and carpet, the Blue Room is not typically used for ceremonies and instead has primarily been a reception room as well as the site of the only presidential wedding held in the White House, between then-President Grover Cleveland and Frances Folsum in 1886.

 Later Sunday, Obama and Biden will speak at an inaugural reception attended by supporters.

 But the president will save his most expansive remarks for Monday, when he delivers his second inaugural address to the crowd gathered on the Mall and millions more watching across the country and the world. Obama started working on the speech in early December and was still tinkering with it into the weekend, aides said.

 The president's address will set the stage for the policy objectives he seeks to achieve in his second term, including speeding up the economic recovery, passing comprehensive immigration and gun control measures and ending the war in Afghanistan. However, aides said Obama would save the specifics of those agenda items for his Feb. 12 State of the Union address.

 The president launched a weekend of inaugural activities Saturday by heading up a National Day of Service. Along with his family, Obama helped hundreds of volunteers spruce up a Washington area elementary school.

 His shirt sleeves rolled up, Obama donned a pair of rubber gloves, picked up a paint brush and helped volunteers stain a bookshelf.

 Obama added the service event to the inaugural schedule in 2009 and is hoping it becomes a tradition followed for future presidents.

 Mrs. Obama, speaking to volunteers Sunday, espoused the importance of giving back in the midst of the weekend of pomp, circumstance and celebration.

 "The reason why we're here, why we're standing here, why we're able to celebrate this weekend is because a lot of people worked hard and supported us, and we've got a job to do and this is a symbol of the kind of work that we need to be doing the next four years," Michelle Obama said at Burrville Elementary.

 ___

 Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC ||||| Barack Obama and John Roberts were all smiles when the chief justice swore in the president on Sunday — a cordial performance they’ll likely repeat during the public swearing-in on Monday.

 But the serene tableau obscures the tumultuous relationship between the two since their first awkward public interaction during the botched oath of office four years ago.

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 reset Inauguration 2013: Obama official swearing-in

 On Sunday, Roberts read the oath from a piece of paper — and both men seemed relieved when it was over. They exchanged congratulations and thanks, and then Obama turned to his daughter Sasha. “I did it,” he told her. “You didn’t mess up,” she replied.

 (See also: Complete coverage of the Inauguration 2013)

 The historical fates of Obama and Roberts are more intertwined than those of any chief justice and president in recent decades. For much of Obama’s first four years in office, the pair seemed to be at loggerheads — particularly after the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision upheld corporations’ right to spend money on elections. Obama trashed the ruling at his State of the Union Address with Roberts and six other justices sitting right in front of him.

 The tension lifted briefly and dramatically last June, when Roberts joined with Democrats on the court to uphold a pivotal part of Obama’s signature health care reform law, the individual mandate. But experts predict the Roberts-led court will continue to challenge the president’s policies in areas that will shape the future of the nation, including affirmative action, immigration and the environment.

 (PHOTOS: Obama’s first term)

 And that means the two men, each with a keen sense of his place in history, are likely to clash again during Obama’s second term.

 “When you have a president and a chief justice of distinctly opposing philosophies, that’s a recipe for conflict, and it has been one, and it will be one,” said Jeffrey Toobin, an author of several books on the court and a legal analyst for CNN. “I don’t think there has been a level of ideological conflict between the president and the chief justice like this since the ’30s.”

 Other analysts say it’s still too early to say whether the Obama-Roberts rivalry is destined for the history books.

 “The Obama and Roberts differences are real and meaningful and will probably find expression in a number of other important cases over the next four years,” said Jeff Shesol, author of “Supreme Power: Franklin Roosevelt vs. The Supreme Court.” “Whether it rises to the level of other kinds of presidential-judicial rivalries is something we’ll probably have to judge in retrospect.”

 Obama and Roberts’s relationship got off to a famously rocky start during the 2009 Inauguration, when Obama jumped in prematurely to recite the oath and the chief justice then mangled the wording. Both men reportedly apologized for the episode, which Roberts may have exacerbated by trying to recite the oath by memory. The White House summoned him to the Map Room for a do-over the next day, just to make sure Obama was officially the president.

 (PHOTOS: 10 inaugural controversies from history)

 The first big flash point came about a year later, when the Supreme Court handed down the Citizens United decision. Obama immediately denounced it as “a green light to a new stampede of special interest money in our politics” and “a major victory for big oil, Wall Street banks, health insurance companies and the other powerful interests that marshal their power every day in Washington to drown out the voices of everyday Americans.” |||||
What is a summary?

– Washington is still putting the finishing touches on tomorrow's every-four-years inauguration party, but it'll be a day late: President Obama will quietly be sworn in for a second term today, due to a Constitutional quirk that mandates that the commander in chief be sworn in at noon on January 20. Because that fell on a Sunday, when inaugurations aren't held, Obama will take the oath at the White House today and tomorrow's ceremony is essentially a re-enactment, reports the AP. Chief Justice John Roberts—who famously flubbed the oath four years ago—will swear the president in both times, notes Politico in a look at the at-times tempestuous relationship between the two men. Joe Biden was also sworn in this morning in a small ceremony at the Naval Observatory, with Justice Sonia Sotomayor administering the oath. Roll Call notes that he used a 5-inch-thick Bible that had been in his family since 1893; Sotomayor is the first Hispanic justice to swear in a president or vice president, reports the Washington Post. "Above all, I’m happy for the chance to be sworn in by a friend—and someone I know will continue to do great things," said Biden.


Article:

The classmate said Evha had almost missed the trip because she did not have suitable clothing and had to borrow some from her school at the last moment.

 Speaking with her father's permission, the girl said: "Evha came to school but didn't have the right clothes for the trip so she borrowed some. It meant she could go with everyone else.

 "I saw her at the park but I didn't see what happened. I think it was her last ride before going home. It's really sad. She was really nice." ||||| Story highlights Theme park temporarily closed after 11-year-old girl dies on water ride

 Similar ride came under scrutiny when four people died at an Australian theme park last year

 (CNN) An 11-year-old girl on a school trip died after she fell from a water ride at a UK theme park, local police have confirmed.

 The incident happened at the Splash Canyon ride at Drayton Manor theme park, north of Birmingham, Staffordshire Police said.

 "It is with great sadness we have to report that a young girl has passed away at Birmingham Children's Hospital following an incident on one of the park's water rides this afternoon," George Bryan, company director of Drayton Manor Park, said in a statement.

 Bryan added that staff were alerted when the girl fell into the water. "The theme park staff tried to help her and an air ambulance airlifted her to a hospital nearby," he said.

 The girl, a student at the Jameah Academy in Leicester, was on a school visit to the park when the incident occurred. The school released a statement confirming that the year 6 student had died.

 Read More ||||| Image copyright Family handout Image caption Evha Jannath fell out of a circular boat on the Splash Canyon attraction

 An 11-year-old girl who was killed in a fall from a water ride has been named.

 Evha Jannath fell out of a circular boat on the Splash Canyon attraction during a school trip to Drayton Manor Theme Park in Staffordshire on Tuesday.

 The pupil, from Leicester, was rescued from the water and taken to hospital but pronounced dead a short time later.

 A statement released by Evha's family said their "world was torn apart" following her death.

 For the latest on this and other Staffordshire stories

 They described her as "a beautiful little girl who was full of love and always smiling".

 "Words cannot describe the pain and loss we feel, we are devastated that we will not see our beautiful little girl again."

 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Drayton Manor: Latest aerial footage shows empty rides

 Police said it was an "extremely difficult time" for Evha's relatives and the force was providing support.

 The theme park remained closed for the day as "a mark of respect". The girl's school, Jameah Girls Academy in Leicester, was also closed.

 In a statement, the Islamic day school asked that the Year 6 pupil's family and school community be given "time to grieve".

 Head teacher Erfana Bora said Evha was a "lovely, sweet-natured girl [who] was loved by everyone at the school".

 "We are trying to make sense of this terrible tragedy. Our thoughts and our prayers are with Evha's family," she added.

 Image caption Drayton Manor Theme Park was closed for the day as a "mark of respect"

 Image copyright ThemeParks.ie Image caption Splash Canyon opened in 1993 and features up to 21 boats

 Prayers have been said for the girl at the Jameah Mosque in Leicester.

 Staffordshire Police said a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation had begun.

 The ride, which opened in 1993 and features up to 21 boats each with a capacity of six people, closed following the incident at the park near Tamworth.

 It offers a "a wild ride" with "fast-flowing rapids" and riders must be at least 0.9m (3ft) tall to board, although those under 1.1m must be accompanied by an adult.

 On Tuesday, park company director George Bryan, whose grandfather opened the site in the 1950s, said he was "truly shocked and devastated" by the death.

 'Really dangerous'

 West Midlands Ambulance Service said it sent paramedics by land and air to the site.

 Image caption Tributes have been left at Drayton Manor Park in memory of Evha Jannath

 A spokesman said crews discovered a girl "with serious injuries who had been rescued from the water by park staff".

 She was flown to Birmingham Children's Hospital but was pronounced dead a short time later.

 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Ride death girl was 'sweet-natured'

 Zainab Mohammad said her 16-year-old sister, who was on the same school trip, was devastated.

 "She came home, she spoke to mum and dad and she just went upstairs.

 "She was devastated. She didn't want to talk about it. The school is not very big, everybody knows each other.

 "We don't know what the cause is but what we really want is for the family to be able to grieve.

 "A family member has been ripped from their family and it's a big loss. Everybody is in utter shock, there are no words."

 Image caption The girl's school was also shut for the day

 Image caption Prayers have been said for Evha at the Jameah Mosque in Leicester

 Vikki Treacy told BBC 5 live her son fell in the water on the same ride in 2013.

 She said Patrick, who was 10 at the time, "sort of stood up" for a photo and toppled from the boat.

 The mother, from Rugby, said: "When you are queuing up, the loudspeakers are telling you the safety instructions, like please stay seated.

 "[But] they're getting excited and giddy, they're not listening to a tannoy are they?

 "[After he fell] I panicked and a woman... in the spectators' bit, hopped over a fence at the side and dragged him out.

 "My son was in an area where the public could get to him. It's a dangerous ride. It really is.

 "I'll never go back to the park. No way. Their aftercare was shocking."

 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Drayton Manor: Mum watched son fall head-first into water

 Drayton Manor said it could not comment on the claims while the Splash Canyon investigation was ongoing.

 A spokesman added: "The health and safety of our visitors is of paramount importance and we'd ask Vikki contacts us direct so that we can address her concerns."

 Theme park enthusiast Ian Bell, who owns rollercoaster fan group Coasterforce, said rapids rides like Splash Canyon tended not to have seatbelts in case they capsized.

 "They are fairly buoyant; they rarely capsize. They are very safe," he added.

 Rides similar to Splash Canyon have been closed at other theme parks. Thorpe Park's Rumba Rapids was closed on Wednesday.

 Meanwhile, Alton Towers said it would be closing its Congo River Rapids ride as a "precautionary" measure.

 In a statement the park said: "We are aware of the tragic events at Drayton Manor and our thoughts are with the family and all of those affected.

 "Safety is our number one priority and, as a precautionary measure, the Congo River Rapids will be closed tomorrow and until such time as more details of the incident become available."

 Image copyright Vikki Treacy Image caption Vikki Treacy (right) said son Patrick (left) fell in the water on the same ride in 2013

 Health and safety lawyer Chris Green told BBC Radio 5 live he had been on the ride with his daughters and had never thought it could be dangerous.

 He said the HSE would need to establish if the accident was work-related.

 "They'd be firstly trying to understand from witnesses precisely how this has happened and that will determine whether it's them in conjunction with police, whether that's a report for the coroner or for other proceedings as well."

 The death at Drayton Manor is thought to be the first at a UK theme park since 2004, when a 16-year-old girl fell from the Hydro ride at Oakwood theme park near Tenby, west Wales.

 In June 2015, five people were seriously injured in a collision on the Smiler rollercoaster at Alton Towers, also in Staffordshire.

 Mr Green said: "The Alton Towers scenario looked more perhaps as if something inevitably looked like it hadn't worked on the day. This one [at Drayton Manor] may be rather different."

 In October 2016, four people died on a rapids ride at Australia's Dreamworld, on Queensland's Gold Coast. |||||
What is a summary?

– Police in Britain are investigating the tragic death of an 11-year-old girl on a water ride at the Drayton Manor theme park. Officials at the park say the girl, who was on a school trip, was fatally injured when she fell from the Splash Canyon ride on Tuesday afternoon, CNN reports. The ride, which is billed as featuring "fast-flowing rapids," has 21 boats with a capacity of six riders each, reports the BBC. Witnesses say Evha Jannath, who was on her last ride of the day, stood up to change seats and fell in after the boat hit a rock. A classmate tells the Telegraph that Evha almost missed the trip after turning up in the wrong clothes, but she was allowed to borrow an acceptable outfit from the school.


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 / Updated By Ian Sager

 The Ice Bucket Challenge just got the presidential treatment.

 President George W. Bush accepted the challenge — with a little help from former first lady Laura Bush — after he was called out by a number of people, including his daughter, TODAY's Jenna Bush Hager.

 WATCH: Jenna Bush Hager challenges her dad and mom to the Ice Bucket Challenge

 So who did the former president challenge? A fellow commander in chief, of course.

 Today

 The challenge has been a trending topic across social media for weeks, and as a result, has raised nearly $22.9 million for ALS in the last three weeks alone.

 Have you done the Ice Bucket Challenge? Tell us about it on our Facebook page.

  ||||| 1 year ago

 (CNN) - Former President George W. Bush took the ice bucket challenge, and is now challenging his predecessor in the White House to follow in his footsteps.

 In a video posted on his Facebook page, Bush takes a soaking from his wife, former First Lady Laura Bush, and then nominates former President Bill Clinton to take the challenge.

 Follow @politicalticker

 The challenge is raging this summer on social media, as people get doused with a bucket of ice water in order to bring awareness – and raise money – to combat amyotropic lateral sclerosis, better known as ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease.

 Politicians get soaked

 $15 million pours in from ice bucket challenge

 "Thanks to Jenna Bush Hager, Rory McIlroy, Woody Johnson, and Coach Jim Harbaugh for the #IceBucketChallenge," wrote Bush on his Facebook page.

 In the video, Bush said "to you all who've challenged me, I do not think it's presidential for me to be splashed with ice water, so I'm simply going to write you a check.”

 Moments later, after she pours a bucket of ice water on top of her husband, the former first lady said "that check is from me. I don't want to ruin my hairstyle."

 Bush then called on Clinton to get wet, saying, "Now it's my privilege to challenge my friend Bill Clinton to the ALS challenge. Yesterday was Bill's birthday and my gift to Bill is a bucket of cold water."

 Celebs embrace ice bucket challenge

 Bush's successor in the White House so far has decided to stay dry. President Barack Obama has declined to take the challenge, but instead has made a donation to an ALS charity, according to the White House.

 Bush's chilly dunking was arranged, in part, by his daughter Jenna Bush Hager, an NBC "Today" show correspondent. |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– The Ice Bucket Challenge is now claiming former heads of state as victims. But former President George W. Bush didn't really want to have a bucket of ice water dumped on his head. "I do not think it's presidential," he says in a video posted today on Facebook. He opts instead to write a check, but Laura Bush had other plans. She sneakily arrives on camera with a bucket in hand, and … well, you can guess what happens next. "That check is from me. I don't want to ruin my hairstyle," she quips. Bush was challenged to join the cause by several people, including daughter Jenna Bush Hager, CNN reports. Dubya passes on the challenge to Bill Clinton, saying "yesterday was Bill's birthday and my gift to Bill is a bucket of cold water." President Obama has apparently agreed that getting splashed with water isn't presidential—he's written a check to an ALS charity. The Ice Bucket Challenge has raised $22.9 million, reports NBC. Meanwhile, someone who might be looking to win the Oval Office in 2016 has already taken the plunge.


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Unfortunately, Laura Linney doesn't come across as a dying woman struggling to save her own life so much as a really dorky PTA mom dressed up as a clown in order to bring a little cheer to the children's cancer ward. Having just been diagnosed with Stage IV melanoma, Cathy (Linney) is haunted by the specter of approaching death, yes, but she's also super-determined to do a goofy little dance and spray a little water out of her flower lapel into some poor leukemia patient's eye. She's going to smile quizzically and shrug and give you an "Aw shucks, what can I say, folks? I'm here for 18 more months!" (Da dum dum -- ch!) and what are you going to do? Laugh?

 Now that we've established my relative worthlessness in the big scheme of things, I will tell you one thing I know beyond a shadow of a doubt: A comedy about cancer needs to be really, really funny. Otherwise, it will be awful. With " The Big C " (premieres 10:30 p.m., Aug. 16, on Showtime), all of the vital signs looked good from the start. You've got Laura Linney, an actress who has been easy to love ever since she charmed the world as Mark Ruffalo's weary older sister in "You Can Count On Me." You've got Oliver Platt, known for his ability to pump vim and vigor into other oddball premium cable shows like "Bored to Death" and "Huff."

 Cancer. I don't like typing that word. My sister goes to work every day and cuts cancer out of people's bodies, and I can't even type the word "cancer" without cringing. My sister looks people right in the eyes and tells them whether they'll live for another year or die in a few weeks -- and I watch shows about rich housewives for a living.

 No. You're going to cringe and beg to be put out of your misery.

 Now I'm going to make a wild, inappropriate guess here. I'm going to guess that either show creator Darlene Hunt or Laura Linney or both of them were given the following note at some point: "Lighten it up!" Maybe some test audience thought the story was too gloomy, too depressing, too focused on death. "Death? Yuck!" they said. "We don't want death. We want zany pot-dealer moms who shrug and slurp on frappuccinos! We want zany multiple-personality-disorder moms who shrug and toss back canned beer! We want zany nurse moms who shrug and pop prescription drugs and have affairs with their pharmacist buddies! But zany control-freak moms who shrug and get naked in the back yard, because they're about to die? No thank you! Cheer this mother up, give her a jaunty smile, a kick in her step! Make her flirt openly with her much-younger doctor! Make her scare the bejeezus out of her snarky teenage son! When she's sad about stuff, make it clear that she's also just feeling so lucky to be alive for another day! You know what this dying mom needs? She needs to smile more often! Haven't you read 'Crazy Sexy Cancer'?"

 So here's Linney, smiling through every scene, cracking really funny jokes about only having a few months to live, jokes about as fun and lighthearted as an unexpected spray of water in your chemo-bloodshot eyes. Here's Cathy feeling pleased that she goaded her doctor into admitting that she has a killer rack. Here's Cathy eating only desserts and doing cartwheels in the hallway of the school where she teaches and getting a pool installed in her backyard and riding a bicycle built for two with a flower basket and streamers coming out of the handlebars. Kooky, unsexy cancer!

 Cathy doesn't want chemo for her melanoma. She doesn't want any treatment that will only make her bald. She doesn't want to tell anyone she has cancer. She just wants to play practical jokes and set stuff on fire! She just wants to kick her husband, Paul (Platt), out of the house, because he's an overgrown kid, gosh darn it! She just wants to hang out with her crazy homeless-by-choice brother, the one who spends his life in various parking lots, yelling at people about how their SUVs are destroying the earth. Cathy's plucky, to-hell-with-it approach should be moving, but instead it comes off with all of the grace and ease of a grizzly bear in a ballerina skirt. Cathy titters. She sighs and squints. She giggles nervously and smiles in a pinched way.

 But let's not blame this show's flaws on cancer. Cathy is a mom who suggests to her son that they "chillax" together. When he calls her gay, she yells anemically after him, "Don't use 'gay' like that!" "You're sooo not allowed to say I'm embarrassing," she warns her brother, Sean (John Benjamin Hickey), who spends every episode saying things like, "Enjoy your swirly chemicals!" and "Wake up and smell your $10 latte!"

 Oliver Platt, on the other hand, succeeds at milking every oddly melancholic moment as Linney's husband. Paul rages at Cathy's inscrutability, he confesses his deepest secrets to a therapist, he misunderstands and becomes lustful and retreats and somehow Platt makes it all believable. We buy this guy as a real person, in all of his selfish, needy, self-pitying glory. Maybe the overgrown boy role is just easier to pull off, or maybe Platt is particularly great at walking that line between comic and tragic.

 I really want to love Linney in this role, because she's a great actress and she does pull off about half of her scenes in "The Big C." But there's just something leaden and unnatural about the way her role is written and performed, as if someone is standing on the sidelines yelling "Smiles, everyone! Smiles!" the whole time. Because if you take the Linney we've seen before -- a little gloomy, a little shrill – and insert her into this picture, it works so much better. Instead, Cathy seems self-conscious in everything she does. She spends most of each episode grinning from ear to ear like the reluctant host of a sorority rush party, counting the seconds until she's free to get drunk on cosmopolitans.

 On the page, "The Big C" is occasionally clever. But the mood of the actual show is all wrong. The timing is off. The heavy scenes are almost as badly timed and directed as the funny scenes, and those scenes that alternate between funny and sad only induce whiplash. None of the emotions in play feel remotely organic or nuanced or sweet. And by the end of the third episode, we understand exactly what we're going to see, over and over again, throughout the course of the first season: Beleaguered, denial-plagued smiley mom, man-child husband, insolent son, angry shut-in neighbor, angry overweight girl (played by Gabourey Sidibe from "Precious") trying to diet, angry radical brother. Simply putting one nutty character in a room with another nutty character does not a comedy make, yet that's what each scene of this show boils down to.

 And that's a shame. Because "The Big C" could be a great show; it should be a great show. There are so many possibilities. Death brings out the best and the worst in everyone and everything, and it can be very funny -- just ask anyone who's dealt with the death of someone close to them. Instead, "The Big C" offers us the same stuff we've seen before from every cancer subplot on every TV show ever made: cute younger doctors, annoying cancer support groups, impulsive decisions and an interminable wait for the moment when our patient finally tells her family she's sick. "I'm here all year, performing at stage IV!" Cathy yells to an imaginary audience at the end of the first episode. "Come on, you've gotta give it up for me a little bit! It's kinda funny -- death comedy?" In this case, unfortunately, it's not. ||||| Those who die on crime series like “The Sopranos” and “The Wire” do so to help — or hurt — the ones left standing. Even “Dexter,” a Showtime series about a serial killer who preys, vigilante-style, on serial killers, examines an engaging psychopath’s fixation on crime and punishment, not extinction.

 The high school teacher hero of AMC’s “Breaking Bad” has cancer, but even there, the action is less about his struggle with his disease than about his decision to start a rollicking life of crime as a meth dealer.

 Photo

 On “The Big C” Ms. Linney’s Cathy is almost refreshingly ordinary — a Minneapolis schoolteacher with a husband and child and a dull but comfortable life. Except, of course, that she too has a secret: melanoma.

 The story begins after Cathy has been told she has a year to live. It is a tribute to Ms. Linney’s talent — and her body of work in movies like “Love Actually” and “The Savages” — that viewers don’t have to see for themselves that Cathy was a reserved, apologetic person before the diagnosis, the kind of dutiful worker bee who is easily silenced by stronger personalities. Ms. Linney makes it understood before uttering a word.

 “The Big C” is framed as a comedy: Cathy’s imminent death sentence unleashes another, freer side of her. Suddenly, she is speaking up, except when she decides not to.

 She doesn’t tell anyone about her cancer, not even her husband, Paul (Oliver Platt), or her son, Adam (Gabriel Basso), or her brother, Sean (John Benjamin Hickey), a homeless ecology nut who lives out of Dumpsters.

 Instead, Cathy tells people off — including a rude and hostile student, Andrea (Gabourey Sidibe from “Precious”), who is dangerously overweight; and a reclusive and sour neighbor, Marlene (Phyllis Somerville), who is unpleasant.

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 Casting off a lifetime of inhibitions, Cathy flirts with her doctor, smokes a cigarette, digs a swimming pool in her yard and, in restaurants, orders only drinks and dessert.

 “The Big C” isn’t just about facing death, of course; it’s also about a woman who tries to live each day as if it were the last. The paradox of dealing playfully with a subject that is so taboo is that it’s easy to slide into safe comic clichés. In “Last Holiday,” Queen Latifah played a meek department store clerk who, when told she has a year to live, moves to a luxury hotel in Europe and savors life, delicious food and telling people exactly what she thinks.

 Photo

 That film was a romantic comedy with a happy ending: Queen Latifah’s character was misdiagnosed. “The Big C” is unlikely to let Cathy magically off the hook.

 Accordingly, the series is at its best when sardonic and subdued. Some of the black humor is the kind that cancer patients are prone to share among themselves. Impolitic truth telling is more broadly amusing, and plenty of movies have toyed with the comedy of characters who can’t stop telling the truth, notably “Liar, Liar” and “The Invention of Lying.” Cathy is funniest when she speaks her mind.

 “The Big C” works because most of the writing is strong and believable, and so is Ms. Linney, who rarely sounds a false note and here has perfect pitch.

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 But perhaps because the subject is so challenging, the creators took some easy shortcuts in casting other characters. Mr. Platt as Paul is childish and egotistical and very much like the childish and egotistical husband he played in Nicole Holofcener’s recent film, “Please Give.” Before playing crusty, solitary Marlene, Ms. Somerville played crusty, solitary May in the movie “Little Children.”

 Ms. Linney has the harder task of portraying the kind of reserved, reticent woman she has played in the past, but one who suddenly gets, as her brother puts it, “her weird back.”

 It’s a credit to the actress, and the writers, that the weirder Cathy gets, the more likable she becomes.

 THE BIG C

 Showtime, Monday nights at 10:30, Eastern and Pacific times; 9:30, Central time.

 Created by Darlene Hunt; Ms. Hunt, Jenny Bicks, Neal H. Moritz, Vivian Cannon and Laura Linney, executive producers; Mark Kunerth, Michael Engler and Merrill H. Karpf, co-executive producers. Produced by Sony Pictures Television Inc.

 WITH: Laura Linney (Cathy), Oliver Platt (Paul), John Benjamin Hickey (Sean), Phyllis Somerville (Marlene), Gabriel Basso (Adam), Gabourey Sidibe (Andrea), Idris Elba (Lenny) and Reid Scott (Dr. Todd). ||||| Traditionally, the term "the Big C" refers to cancer , and as the main character of Showtime 's new series by the same name has recently been diagnosed with Stage 4 melanoma , it seems a fitting title. In this case, "The Big C" could also refer to several other things — the big concept, for instance. Showtime has developed an alarming penchant for putting women in extreme situations and playing it for comedy, albeit of the darker variety. But cancer is still dicey, hitting closer to home for many viewers than, say, split personalities ( "United States of Tara" ) or even drug addiction ("Nurse Jackie.")"The Big C" could also mean "big cast." Much has been made of critics' darling Laura Linney and her decision to enter the world of serialized television (though no doubt her Emmy win for HBO 's " John Adams " made it a tiny bit easier). Here she is joined by fellow stage actor John Benjamin Hickey ("Love! Valour! Compassion!"), the wonderfully elastic and prolific Oliver Platt , "Precious" Oscar nominee Gabourey Sidibe and veteran performer Phyllis Somerville (" NYPD Blue," "Little Children"), who inevitably steals every scene she's in.The pilot is also directed by Bill Condon , but that seems to be pushing the whole "things that begin with C" conceit. Still, even on paper, "The Big C" has a lot going on. Then the action starts and things get, well, Crazy. And not necessarily in a good way.Linney's Cathy is a high school teacher who has just learned that the large and unmistakably problematic splotch on her back is Stage 4 melanoma. She is not interested in pursuing experimental treatments or sharing this information with any of the people closest to her. Instead, she begins to survey her life through the lens of its newly measured length, and much of what she sees is not to her liking.She has a husband (Platt) so unapologetically childish that he says things like "stinky poo poo" and still gets drunk enough to pee on the front lawn; a son (Gabriel Basso) who is insolent and selfish even by early-teen standards; a wild-haired neighbor ( Somerville ) who seems to have wandered out of a Flannery O'Connor short story; a hateful, mouthy summer school student (Sidibe) and a homeless eco-activist brother (Hickey) given to wearing plastic bags around his neck.All of whom are introduced in the pilot, by the way, and this is a half-hour show.Clearly, creator and executive producer Darlene Hunt is not sending Cathy gentle into that good night or anywhere else for that matter. No, Cathy will be dropping f-bombs , digging nonpermitted pools and splattering school buses with paintballs. Although "The Big C" does pose the eternal question — How would you live your life if you knew its actual dimensions? — it tries very hard not to take the expected path.Too hard, unfortunately. So determined are Hunt, executive producer/showrunner Jenny Bicks and Linney that "The Big C" be unsentimental that they jam early episodes with so many over-blown characters and wacky antics that it's impossible to attach meaning to any of them. Platt especially is almost criminally misused; as middle-aged wild child to Cathy's more orderly (read: controlling) adult, he wanders in and out of scenes like some infantile forest creature, defined only by wifely resentment, unrecognizable as an adult male (much less one who has, apparently, a job big enough to pay for the very nice house in suburban Connecticut).Linney, who has made a career exploring the fear and rage that is so often disguised as devotion, summons her not-inconsiderable charms to create a woman teetering between breakdown and breakthrough. That Cathy has no friends outside her eccentric brother is less than believable, but it's a fair enough narrative decision. Much of the early story revolves around Cathy forming relationships with Sidibe's Andrea, whom she has decided to save from her weight problem, and Somerville's Marlene, who has hard-won wisdom to offer.But while many of the scenes of "The Big C" are compelling in themselves, taken together they create a manic and manipulative half-hour. In attempting to capture the freefall of discovering that life will be a matter of months instead of years, Hunt and her writers have surrounded Cathy with so much attention-grabbing insanity — She must have a pool! A smackdown with Andrea, another with Marlene! Her brother is a nut! But maybe he's right! No way is her son going to summer camp! And how can she live with a man who never closes the cupboard doors! — that it's hard to keep your eyes on the woman herself.Cathy's decision to keep the news of her cancer to herself is the closest thing we get to a through-line, and fortunately, it's a very good one. We all carry the certainty of our own end with us — as poet laureate W.S. Merwin reminds us: "Every year without knowing it I have passed the day / When the last fires will wave to me" — though for the most part we do it without discussion or even acknowledgment. How then should knowing the particulars change us, and what part of that knowledge do we owe friends and family? Watching Cathy flail wildly at her husband and child, one can't help but think she is treating them unfairly by not explaining what is really going on. But whatreally going on? Every day is another step toward the last, even for a teenager, and who's to say that Cathy is closer to her end than any of those around her?There are enough graceful moments in "The Big C" and certainly enough fine actors to hope that in subsequent episodes, things will slow down, that the grim determination to be "different" will give way to something, if not less outraged or outrageous, then less visibly straining to be so. |||||

– Critics are split on The Big C, Showtime's Laura Linney-starring comedy about a woman with cancer living out the last year of her life, which debuts tonight: The cast is perhaps a bit large for a half-hour show, writes Mary McNamara in the Los Angeles Times, and the whole thing is so determined to be unsentimental that it is instead jammed "with so many over-blown characters and wacky antics that it's impossible to attach meaning to any of them." Heather Havrilesky agrees, noting that the show's attempts to "lighten up" the subject matter turn the whole thing into a "kooky, unsexy" ride that will make you "cringe and beg to be put out of your misery," she writes on Salon. But Alessandra Stanley likes it—especially Linney, "who rarely sounds a false note and here has perfect pitch," she writes in the New York Times. "The series is at its best when sardonic and subdued. Some of the black humor is the kind that cancer patients are prone to share among themselves." For more on the widely admired Linney, click here.


Summarize this article:

Emergency personnel responded to a scene of a collision that killed three children crossing SR 25 as they were boarding their school bus north of Rochester, Indiana on Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2018,. (Santiago... (Associated Press)

 Emergency personnel responded to a scene of a collision that killed three children crossing SR 25 as they were boarding their school bus north of Rochester, Indiana on Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2018,. (Santiago Flores/South Bend Tribune via AP) (Associated Press)

 ROCHESTER, Ind. (AP) — A 9-year-old girl and her twin 6-year-old brothers were struck and killed by a pickup truck as they crossed a northern Indiana road to board a school bus before sunrise Tuesday, police said. A fourth child was critically injured and airlifted to a hospital.

 A Tippecanoe Valley School Corp. bus had stopped and lowered its stop-arm on the road near Rochester around 7 a.m., just before a northbound pickup truck slammed into the children as they crossed the southbound lane, Indiana State Police Sgt. Tony Slocum said.

 Six-year-old twin brothers Xzavier and Mason Ingle and their 9-year-old sister, Alivia Stahl, died at the scene, he said. The rural Rochester residents were students at nearby Mentone Elementary School.

 The siblings' great aunt, Pamela Pugh, told the South Bend Tribune that she was stunned and shaken by their deaths.

 "I'm just trying to make sense of all of it. There are no words," she said.

 Slocum said an 11-year-old boy not related to the deceased siblings suffered multiple broken bones when he was also hit by the pickup. That child, Maverik Lowe, was in critical condition at a Fort Wayne hospital and was undergoing surgery.

 Lowe was conscious and speaking to emergency workers before he was airlifted to the hospital, Slocum said.

 Authorities were interviewing the pickup driver.

 He said it was early in the crash investigation and it was unclear if the driver would face charges in the deaths, although he noted Indiana law requires motorists to stop when a school bus is picking up or dropping off children.

 Slocum said the students had the right of way as they crossed the street from the rural mobile home community where they lived.

 "It's an unspeakable tragedy," he said. "We all have a responsibility to share the roadway and we're all responsible for making sure our children get to and from school safely."

 The Tippecanoe Valley School Corp. said in a statement posted on Facebook that counselors had been dispatched to its schools to help students, staff and parents and urged "the community to come together to pray for the families."

 Detectives were interviewing witnesses and a crash reconstruction team was at the scene near Rochester, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of Indianapolis.

 Gov. Eric Holcomb said in a statement that he and his wife, Janet, were mourning the students' death and urged Indiana residents to send their "deepest prayers for the strength needed to endure such a time."

 "Words cannot express the depth of sorrow Janet and I feel, which only pales in comparison to what family, friends, teachers, classmates and community are feeling right now," he said. ||||| ROCHESTER, Ind. (AP) — The Latest on three schoolchildren being struck and killed by a pickup truck in northern Indiana (all times local):

 6:50 p.m.

 The driver of a pickup truck that struck and killed three young siblings as they crossed a northern Indiana road to board a school bus is facing charges.

 Indiana State Police say 24-year-old Alyssa Shepherd of Rochester was arrested and charged with three counts of reckless homicide and one misdemeanor count of passing a school bus when arm signal device is extended, causing bodily injury. Shepherd was being held on a $15,000 surety bond.

 State Police Sgt. Tony Slocum says 6-year-old twin brothers Xzavier and Mason Ingle died at the scene Tuesday morning along with their 9-year-old sister,

 The siblings and an 11-year-old boy were struck about 7 a.m., before sunrise, as they were crossing a two-lane road near Rochester, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of Indianapolis, to board a Tippecanoe Valley School Corp. bus.

 Slocum says the injured boy, Maverik Lowe, is undergoing surgery at a Fort Wayne hospital.

 ___

 2:30 p.m.

 State Police have released the names of three young siblings who were struck and killed by a pickup truck as they

 Sgt. Tony Slocum says 6-year-old twin brothers Xzavier and Mason Ingle died at the scene Tuesday morning along with their 9-year-old sister, Alivia Stahl. All three were students at Mentone Elementary School.

 The siblings and an unrelated 11-year-old boy were struck about 7 a.m. as they were crossing a two-lane road near Rochester, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of Indianapolis to board a Tippecanoe Valley School Corp. bus.

 Slocum says the injured boy, Maverik Lowe, is undergoing surgery at a Fort Wayne hospital.

 The pickup's driver was identified as 24-year-old Alyssa Shepherd of rural Rochester.

 ___

 11:30 a.m.

 State Police say a 9-year-old girl and her twin 6-year-old brothers were killed when a pickup truck struck them in northern Indiana as they were crossing a road to board a school bus.

 Sgt. Tony Slocum says the girl and her brothers died at the scene Tuesday morning after they were struck by the pickup near Rochester, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of Indianapolis.

 An 11-year-old boy who isn't a relative was also struck and suffered multiple broken bones. Slocum says that boy was conscious and speaking to emergency workers before he was airlifted to a Fort Wayne hospital.

 Slocum says the children were hit as they were crossing a two-lane road to board a Tippecanoe Valley School Corp. bus that had stopped with its stop-arm deployed.

 ___

 9:49 a.m.

 State Police say three children were struck and killed by a pickup truck in northern Indiana as they were about to board a school bus.

 Sgt. Tony Slocum says four children were preparing to board a Tippecanoe Valley School Corp. bus about 7 a.m. Tuesday when they were hit by the pickup truck on a two-lane road near Rochester, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of Indianapolis.

 Slocum says three of the children died at the scene and the fourth was airlifted to a Fort Wayne hospital. Their names and ages haven't been released. Slocum didn't say which school the children attend.

 Police are interviewing the woman who was driving the pickup.

 Slocum calls the accident a "terrible tragedy." |||||

– A 9-year-old girl and her twin 6-year-old brothers were struck and killed by a pickup truck as they crossed a northern Indiana road to board a school bus before sunrise Tuesday, police said. A fourth child was critically injured and airlifted to a hospital, the AP reports. A Tippecanoe Valley School Corp. bus had stopped and lowered its stop-arm on the road near Rochester around 7am, just before a northbound pickup truck slammed into the children as they crossed the southbound lane, Indiana State Police Sgt. Tony Slocum said. Six-year-old twin brothers Xzavier and Mason Ingle and their 9-year-old sister, Alivia Stahl, died at the scene, he said. The rural Rochester residents were students at nearby Mentone Elementary School. The siblings' great aunt, Pamela Pugh, told the South Bend Tribune that she was stunned and shaken by their deaths. "I'm just trying to make sense of all of it. There are no words," she said. Slocum said an 11-year-old boy not related to the deceased siblings suffered multiple broken bones when he was also hit by the pickup. That child, Maverik Lowe, was in critical condition at a Fort Wayne hospital and was undergoing surgery. Lowe was conscious and speaking to emergency workers before he was airlifted to the hospital, Slocum said. The pickup driver, 24-year-old Alyssa Shepherd of Rochester, was arrested and charged with three counts of reckless homicide and one misdemeanor count of passing a school bus when arm signal device is extended, causing bodily injury. (A school bus driver's illegal U-turn allegedly caused a fatal crash.)


Article:

Sept. 6, 2017: A recently filed lawsuit in Dallas County District Court blames negligence on behalf of the Boy Scouts of America for the death of Reid Comita, a Fort Worth teen. (Photo: WFAA)

 DALLAS-- A recently filed lawsuit in Dallas County District Court blames negligence on behalf of the Boy Scouts of America for the death of a Fort Worth teen three months ago.

 Reid Comita,15, died from heat stroke while hiking at Buffalo Trail Scout Ranch in June.

 "The Boy Scouts of America are responsible for my son's death. It's that simple. They are responsible," John Comita told WFAA in a sit-down interview.

 The new lawsuit outlines a series of allegations surrounding Reid's death, namely that he was "...sent on an extremely aggressive hike" in temperatures hovering around 100 degrees with a heat index well over that.

 The Comita family had specifically signed Reid up for an introductory backpacking class, under adult supervision, because they felt it was the safest option for their son.

 "He wasn't an athlete. He wasn't prepared to go on an advanced hike," his father said.

 Photos from the camp's Facebook page show rugged, mountainous terrain meandering through Jeff Davis County in southwest Texas.

 The petition further contends that Reid didn't receive proper training at the camp before being sent out on the more advanced hike and that he was accompanied by only two other teenagers, not the required two adults.

 The circumstances have left Copper Comita, Reid's mother, baffled, angry and crushed.

 "It doesn't take it away. It doesn't make it any better. It's just that much more pain," said Copper.

 The lawsuit also outlines communication issues, claiming the Comita family wasn't notified of his death for more than four hours.

 "We were calling, and no one could give us a straight answer as to how he was," said Copper.

 The backpacking course would have been Reid's final task to accomplish Eagle Scout. His troop has since awarded him the honor posthumously.

 "His friends, his troop, have been great," says John. "But we haven't heard from the BSA or organization at all."

 The BSA sent WFAA the following statement:

 “This remains a difficult time for our Scouting community, and we continue to keep the family in our thoughts and prayers. The health and safety of our youth members is of paramount importance to the BSA, and integral to everything we do. We strive to create a safe environment for youth to experience outdoor adventure."

 For Copper, the loss of a son who excelled in studies and choir when he wasn't earning merit badges, is a void that simply can't be filled.

 "He was very special," she said.

 John says he grew up participating in the Boy Scouts, and that he always felt it was something he could proudly share with his son.

 "It was great bonding for us," he said. "On one hand, they pass themselves off as a great, upstanding organization with the 12 points. But those are there for their [the executives] convenience."

 © 2017 WFAA-TV ||||| Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period. |||||
What is a summary?

– The grieving parents of 15-year-old Reid Comita say he died after going on a hike the Boy Scouts should never have sent him on. The Texas teenager died from heat stroke in June while on an "Intro to Backpacking" course that would have been his final task to become an Eagle Scout. "The Boy Scouts of America are responsible for my son's death. It's that simple," father John Comita tells WFAA. Reid's parents are suing Boy Scouts of America, accusing them of being negligent by sending the boy on an "extremely aggressive hike" through rugged terrain in southwest Texas on a day when temperatures were around 100 degrees. "He wasn't an athlete. He wasn't prepared to go on an advanced hike," the father says. John Comita says the family signed Reid up for the course—which was supposed to include two days of training followed by a three-day hike—because they thought it was the safest option, but he was immediately sent on the hike, reports the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The lawsuit also faults the Boy Scouts for sending Reid on a hike with two other teenagers, a 14-year-old and an 18-year-old, instead of the two adults that regulations require. Boy Scouts of America, which awarded Reid the rank of Eagle Scout after his death, declined to comment on the lawsuit but said the "health and safety of our youth members is of paramount importance," the Washington Post reports. (This woman got sick on a hike and was dead 9 hours later.)


These are the kind of people that are burning Nike products , we are sick of the discrimination never thought I’d have a personal experience with racism like this, this man pulled a gun on us because we were walking up to my friends apartment w/o a keypic.twitter.com/TlMFQjoM1N ||||| Four juniors from Florida A&M University were waiting to get into their friend’s apartment building late Saturday night when a white man claiming to live in the building allegedly accosted them before pulling out a gun, according to police and a now-viral social media video.

 One of the students, Isaiah Butterfield, captured part of the 10-minute confrontation on video and posted it on Twitter, where it has since been retweeted nearly 6,000 times.

 The clip shows a white man wearing a baseball cap claiming to be a resident of the building and then getting into a verbal altercation with the group of black students, before pulling a gun out in an apparent effort to stop them from getting in an elevator.

 Social media users and local outlets identified the man as Don Crandall, a manager at the Baymont Inn & Suites by Wyndham Hotels. On Tuesday, the Pax Hotel Group, which owns the inn, posted a statement on Instagram confirming that its general manager was involved, condemned his actions, and said that he had been fired.

 "Our team has gone ahead and took the actions necessary," the group said, adding that it does not "stand behind the actions of our former general manager...we would like to apologize to those affected by the actions of our former employee."

 In a message to residents Monday night, the apartment complex's management said Crandall is not a resident of the building, Stadium Centre, which is marketed as off-campus housing to college students in Tallahassee.

 “Firearms are prohibited on our property and we take this matter very seriously,” the management said in the message, which Butterfield sent to BuzzFeed News. “Moreover, we are firmly committed to creating a diverse residential community that is inclusive and welcoming to all.”

 In an interview, Butterfield described the encounter, which he said occurred while he and three friends — Stephen Brooks, Joshua Cosby, and Fitzroy Rhoden — were waiting at the garage entrance to the apartment building. Another friend, Zavian Flowers, had just moved into the building and was throwing a party, Butterfield said.

 As they waited for Flowers to let them in, Crandall walked past them and through the door.

 “Then he turned and he said, ‘You aren’t getting in here if you don't have a key,’” Butterfield said. “We were shook because we hadn’t said anything to him. We were just standing there and then he closed the door and locked it.”

 According to the junior, Crandall, who is white, came back a few moments later and began harassing the students again. The encounter then caught the attention of another man — whom Butterfield identified as “Chad” — who intervened on the students’ behalf.

 “He came at us for no reason and that’s when Chad walked up and I started recording,” Butterfield said. “Chad stood up for us and pushed back on the guy and said we could come in with him.” |||||

Write a summary.

– As four black Florida A&M University students waited outside for a friend to let them into his apartment building for a party, a white man confronted them—and ultimately pulled a gun on them in an incident Tallahassee police and the university are now investigating. Video of a portion of the Saturday night incident went viral after one of the students, Isaiah Butterfield, posted it on Twitter; Butterfield tells BuzzFeed News that before he started filming, the white man in the video walked past him and his friends and through the building's entrance. "Then he turned and he said, ‘You aren’t getting in here if you don't have a key,'" Butterfield says. "We were shook because we hadn’t said anything to him." He says the man then came back outside and started harassing the group, at which point another white person walked up and started defending the black students. Butterfield then started filming. The white bystander, who had a key to the building, let the group inside; the first white man then insisted they not get on the elevator with him and asked repeatedly whether they had a key to the building. As the group attempted to enter the elevator, the man pulled out a gun. "He made sure we saw that he had a gun so we didn't get in the elevator," says Butterfield, who notes that the group had earlier questioned whether the man actually lived in the building, since it is student housing and he looked older than most residents. (At one point in the video, the man can be heard saying, "Where am I going? I am going upstairs to get laid.") The students, who were ultimately let into the building by their friend, reported the incident to police the following day. Building management has since released a statement saying the man in the video is not a resident. Social media users identified him, and his employer announced he has been fired from his position as general manager of a nearby hotel.