Here is a news article: HOLLYWOOD, Fla. - Gov. Rick Scott directed the Agency for Health Care Administration to issue an emergency moratorium Wednesday for the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills, where eight people died after an air-conditioning issue that forced evacuations from the nursing home.

 All patients have been removed from the rehabilitation center, and the moratorium immediately prevents the facility from admitting any patients until the order is lifted.

 The shutdown is necessary to protect the lives and the safety of frail elders, according to a news release from the AHCA.

 Earlier in the day, Scott made it clear that he is demanding answers on the facility. He previously ordered the AHCA and the Department of Children and Families to investigate the facility.

 It was shortly after 4 a.m. Wednesday when paramedics and fire-rescue crews were called to the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills.

 "The Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills has evacuated this morning due to a prolonged power failure to the transformer which powered the facility's air conditioning system as a result of the hurricane," nursing home administrator Jorge Carballo said in a statement.

 Hollywood police Chief Tomas Sanchez confirmed that eight people had died and 115 patients were evacuated from the center.

 "We're conducting a criminal investigation into the deaths that occurred here," Sanchez said.

 Several residents from the center could be seen sitting on wheelchairs outside the nursing home, next to the hospital.

 An adjacent building, Larkin Community Hospital, was also evacuated. Eighteen patients there were relocated as a result of the investigation.

 The victims who died have been identified as Bobby Owens, 84; Manuel Mario Medieta, 96; Miguel Antonio Franco, 92; Estella Hendricks, 71; Gail Nova, 71; Carolyn Eatherly, 78; Betty Hibbard, 84; and Albertina Vega, 99.

 The causes of death have yet to be determined.

 Carballo said three of the eight patients died at the facility and the others died at the hospital they were taken to.

 "Facility administration is cooperating fully with relevant authorities to investigate the circumstances that led to this unfortunate and tragic outcome. Our hearts go out to the families and friends of those who were affected," Carballo said.

 Local 10 News reporter Jenise Fernandez spoke to the man who has been trying to repair the AC. Airstron employee Dave Long said that a fuse needed to cool the AC unit popped out during Hurricane Irma and needs to be repaired. He said he's been calling Florida Power & Light for days to get it fixed.

 "There's nothing we can do," Airstron employee Dave Long told Local 10 News. "We've been calling and calling."

 "There's nothing we can do," Long said. "We've been calling and calling. ... It just doesn't seem to be going anywhere, and I can't do anything until we get that fuse popped back in."

 Long described the ordeal as "frustrating."

 He said it would only take about 30 minutes once the fuse is fixed for the AC to be restored.

 "Well, I came here after the storm on Monday and we saw the fuse was out, but we called at that time and now it's, what, Wednesday, and the fuse is still out and I can't do anything," Long said.

 All the patients were taken to area hospitals, including Memorial Regional Hospital.

 "We don't have specific numbers on the conditions of each of the patients involved," city spokeswoman Raelin Storey said.

 Dr. Randy Katz, the medical director at Memorial Regional Hospital, said his staff "quickly identified some issues inside of the facility."

 "Most of the patients have been treated for respiratory distress, dehydration and heat-related issues," Katz said.

 Katz said at least a dozen other patients were in emergency care. He said the death toll could rise.

 Family members rushed to the hospitals after finding out where their loved ones were taken.

 One woman who spoke to reporters said she had been calling FPL and the facility for days on behalf of her mother to find out when the AC would be restored.

 "I kept calling," the woman said. "And I said, 'This is life-threatening.'"

 The woman said helping restore nursing homes to their standard conditions should be a top priority after a hurricane.

 Rob Gould, vice president and chief communications officer for FPL, said the utility company met with Broward County officials in March to identify "top-tier critical infrastructure" facilities in the event of a massive power outage. He said the nursing home was not identified as such.

 Rob Gould, vice president and chief communications officer for FPL, says the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills was not listed as one of Broward County's top-tier critical infrastructure facilities.

 "We do know that facilities such as Memorial Regional Hospital across the street, which was with power, is listed as a top-tier critical infrastructure facility," Gould said.

 Gould said parts of the facility were energized by FPL. He said the tragedy points to the need to have a plan in place when it comes to emergency preparation.

 "I am going to aggressively demand answers on how this tragic event took place," Scott said in a statement earlier Wednesday. "Although the details of these reported deaths are still under investigation, this situation is unfathomable."

 Scott said if the investigation uncovers "that anyone wasn't acting in the best interests of their patients, we will hold them accountable to the fullest extent of the law."

 Numerous assisted living facilities were evaluated throughout South Florida after the incident, including the Bayview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in North Miami Beach, where more than 100 patients were evaluated.

 The facility also did not have working AC, and the residents were all moved to other locations via buses and trolleys.

 A city spokeswoman said in a news release that Hollywood police officers conducted welfare checks on 42 nursing homes, assisted living and critical care facilities throughout the day.

 Memorial Healthcare Systems has established a hotline for families of the patients who were taken to its facilities for care. The number is 954-265-1074.

 Copyright 2017 by WPLG Local10.com - All rights reserved. ||||| These crawls are part of an effort to archive pages as they are created and archive the pages that they refer to. That way, as the pages that are referenced are changed or taken from the web, a link to the version that was live when the page was written will be preserved.Then the Internet Archive hopes that references to these archived pages will be put in place of a link that would be otherwise be broken, or a companion link to allow people to see what was originally intended by a page's authors.The goal is to fix all broken links on the web . Crawls of supported "No More 404" sites. ||||| Eight Hollywood nursing home residents died Wednesday morning in a building left without air conditioning after Irma roared through South Florida, according to Hollywood police and the city.

 The home is directly across from a hospital.

 Hollywood police have begun a criminal investigation into the deaths at the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills, 1200 N. 35th Ave. while the Agency for Health Care Administration and Department of Children & Families have begun their own investigations. Hollywood Police Chief Tom Sanchez said precautionary checks would be done on Hollywood’s 42 other nursing homes.

 The owner of the nursing home also is an officer of Larkin Community Hospital, a medical center with a troubled history.

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 The Broward Medical Examiner’s office list of those who died while stating the cause of death has not been officially determined: Carolyn Eatherly, 78; Miguel Antonio Franco, 92; Estella Hendricks, 71; Betty Hibbard, 84; Manuel Mario Medieta, 96; Gail Nova, 71; Bobby Owens, 84; and Albertina Vega, 99.

 Florida Gov. Rick Scott declared in a statement, “I’m going to aggressively demand answers on how this tragic event took place. Although the details of these reported deaths are still under investigation, this situation is unfathomable.”

 Gov. Rick Scott: I Am Demanding Answers pic.twitter.com/EgxW9SrtjZ — Rick Scott (@FLGovScott) September 13, 2017

 Another part of the release from Scott’s office stated:

 “The Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills is responsible for the safety of their patients. Department of Health officials have been in contact with Larkin Community Hospital Behavioral Health Services management and the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills over the past three days. Hospital administrators were advised to call 911 if they had any reason to believe that the health or safety of patients was at risk.

 Tuesday afternoon, the center reported to AHCA that it had power and access to fans and spot coolers provided by Memorial Healthcare.”

 Like many places in South Florida, the nursing home has been without power since being whipped by tropical storm-force winds with hurricane gusts on the edge of Hurricane Irma. The Florida Health Care Association said Wednesday 150 of 700 nusring home facilities around the state didn’t have full power.

 Miami’s Mike Carvelli, whose mother is at The Rehabilitation Center, said his brother was there earlier this week and found it “a little warm, but not uncomfortable” and there were portable air conditioning units in use. Kitchen worker Jean Lindor said the center had power from a generator to cook meals, but no air conditioning.

 With the assistance of Memorial Healthcare — Memorial Regional Hospital sits across the street — officers and firefighters evacuated 115 people from the center. Concerned family members can call 954-265-3000 to check on their relatives.

 Flora Mitchell, a 61-year-old Hollywood resident, came down to the center to find her sister around noon Wednesday. Sweat dripping from her forehead, she said she’d been trying to get information from first responders to no avail. She said her 58-year-old sister, who can’t talk or walk, has been there 10 years.

 “I don’t know if my sister is living,” Mitchell said. “Nobody’s telling us nothing.”

 Carvelli found staff members proactive after they evacuated his mother. Carvelli said the staff got him and his brother on a conference call to go over the medications and care for her Alzeimer’s.

 “This is an inexcusable tragedy that frail patients would die of heat exhaustion without it being recognized and taking them to the hospital next door,” read a statement from U.S. Senator Bill Nelson. “I have spoken with the Secretary of Health and Human Services to get to the bottom of this. We need to make sure we’re doing everything we can to keep our seniors safe during this difficult time.”

 Three of Wednesday’s eight deaths occurred at the nursing home. Hollywood Fire Rescue responded at 3 a.m. to a call about someone having a heart attack at 3 a.m.. They were back at 4 a.m. to transport a patient with breathing problems, the city of Hollywood stated in a Wednesday evening release.

 “After the second call was completed, the Fire Lieutenant notified a Battalion Chief and called the Department of Children and Families to report concerns about the facility,” the release stated. “Shortly thereafter, a third call for patient transport came in. Additional Fire Rescue crews were dispatched and began going through the facility. Memorial clinical staff also responded to the facility. A total of three patients were found deceased on the second floor of the facility and several other patients in varying degrees of medical distress were transported.”

 Sanchez said, “It’s extremely hot on the second floor of the facility.”

 The National Weather Service’s tracking in Hollywood put the temperature at 80 to 82 degrees overnight with a heat index of 85 to 90 after a Tuesday afternoon high temperature of 90 and a peak heat index of 99.

 The center and its owners have been cited previously for substandard or fraudulent operations.

 At least one lawsuit alleging negligence by the Rehabilitation Center is pending. The 2016 suit alleges “the staff and employees failed to develop a proper care plan and properly monitor and supervise the care and treatment provided to Lillian Fuller in order to prevent her from suffering the development and deterioration of infections and sepsis and suffering the development and deterioration of dehydration.”

 Fuller, 71, no longer lives at the center.

 The state corporate registration for the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills, LLC lists South Miami Dr. Jack Michel — the president, director and agent of Larkin Community Hospital — as the company’s manager.

 While a nursing home has been at that location nearly 50 years, the Rehabilitation Center’s name and registration are only two years old. Larkin bought what was then called Hollywood Hills Nursing Home and Hollywood Pavilion Hospital in a 2015 bankruptcy auction after fallout from Medicare fraud convictions sunk both facilities.

 This article will be updated as more information is available. |||||
A summary of this is?

– Six people died after losing air conditioning at a Florida nursing home whose power was knocked out by Hurricane Irma, Broward County Mayor Barbara Sharief confirmed in a press conference Wednesday. Sharief said three people died at the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills and two more were declared dead at a hospital, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports. A sixth death was announced in a press release later Wednesday morning. It may have all been due to extreme temperatures at the facility, though the causes of death haven't yet been officially determined. A police rep simply said "a number of people" were "in respiratory distress" at the facility; 115 people were evacuated from it. More on the deaths and other Irma-related news: Hollywood Police Chief Tom Sanchez says precautionary checks are being performed at the other nursing homes in the area, the Miami Herald reports. Sanchez says a criminal investigation into the deaths has been opened. The Airstron employee who had been trying to fix the AC unit tells Local 10 that a fuse needed to cool the unit popped out during the hurricane. He says he's been trying to repair the facility's unit for days, but Florida Power & Light (FPL) has yet to fix the fuse for him despite his phone calls. The Washington Post reports a rep for FPL noted the county didn't designate the facility as "top critical"—meaning a place given priority attention—during a 2017 hurricane planning meeting. The Post separately reported that as of Wednesday morning some 40% of the state was still without power, and that some may not see it for as long as weeks. The mayor of Naples, Fla., put it bluntly: "The biggest issue is power. It’s 92 degrees and the sun is out and it’s smoking out there.” FPL's best estimate at this point for when power will be restored to those along the state's west coast: Sept. 22. Carbon monoxide is also an issue in the wake of the storm: The Los Angeles Times reports that at least five people have died and more than a dozen others have been treated after breathing carbon monoxide fumes from generators.


Article:

Papa John's isn't pulling any punches with its first new advertisement since its founder John Schnatter was ousted as chairman last month.

 On Friday, the beleaguered pizza chain published a video on social media that addressed outrage customers expressed following comments made by Schnatter in November about the National Football League and, more recently, his use of the N-word on a conference call that came to light in July.

 "You expected better from Papa John's," says the video, which was posted on Facebook and Twitter Friday afternoon. "So did we."

 The video contains actual customer Tweets that call out the pizza chain over Schnatter's remarks and demand Papa John's change its policies if it wants their business back.

 "Right now, we're reviewing our culture from top to bottom and meeting with our communities to learn how we can be better," the company wrote on Twitter. "We fully intend to earn back your trust through action." ||||| Papa John's is confronting its crisis: Customers think it has a racism problem.

 In a new ad, the pizza chain shows some of the furious messages it received after its founder blamed NFL protests for poor sales and later admitted using the N-word.

 "Racism is disgusting and I won't support it," one person wrote. Another said that "blaming players for poor sales with dog whistle racism was a hack move."

 Between the messages, words from the company appear on the screen.

 "You expected better from Papa John's. So did we," the company writes. "Thank you for your honesty ... It is making us better."

 Papa John's is struggling with declining sales, especially since founder John Schnatter was forced to resign as chairman in July, after his use of the slur came to light.

 Schnatter has since said it was a mistake to resign, and is now attacking CEO Steve Ritchie in an apparent bid to regain control.

 The ads recall those put out by Facebook (FB), Uber and Wells Fargo (WFC) after PR crises at those companies. All of those ads acknowledged customer concerns, although with varying degrees of directness.

 The company has taken great pains to distance itself from Schnatter, removing his image from marketing materials, kicking him out of his office and trying to stop him from gaining more control of the company.

 "The video produced by the Company represents another example of the Company attempting to hide the true facts," a spokesman for Schnatter said in a statement. He added that fans have called for Schnatter's return to the company.

 Papa John's also announced Friday that it will roll out mandatory bias training for its workers.

 Training will start in October at the corporate office and at corporate-owned stores, which make up about 20% of its the chain's US restaurants. The Papa John's leadership team finished their own training two weeks ago.

 The program will include conversations about unconscious bias, racial and cultural sensitivity and managing bias.

 In an open letter, Ritchie said Papa John's is also conducting an internal audit on diversity and inclusion practices, launching a program to support minority-owned franchises and starting a foundation focused on local communities.

 Ritchie said he was "personally committed to adding more diversity to the leadership team of Papa John's."

 Papa John's has hired Bank of America and Lazard to help stabilize the business, a source told CNNMoney on Friday. The source declined to give further details, and Bank of America and Lazard declined to comment. The news was reported earlier by Reuters.

 Papa John's also seems to be following a similar playbook to that of Starbucks (SBUX), which mandated anti-bias training after two black men were arrested while waiting for a friend at a Philadelphia location.

 Starbucks closed about 8,000 stores for an afternoon to conduct the elaborate training, which tapped the musician and activist Common as a virtual session leader and relied on the guidance of more than 30 experts. ||||| 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 ||||| Our Core Values

 Aug 24, 2018

 I was appointed the CEO of Papa John’s earlier this year. As the new CEO, I want to share the values that will drive the transformation of Papa John’s.

 I started my career in the pizza business 25 years ago because pizza brings people together. I found a home at Papa John’s where people from all backgrounds work side-by-side every day. Papa John’s is 120,000 corporate and franchise team members around the world. We stand for equity, fairness, respect and opportunity. Our most important ingredient is our people.

 When I became CEO in January, diversity, equity and inclusion became one of my top priorities. What began as a committee of passionate team members has grown into a company-wide effort to realize our values. Here’s what we’ve done so far:

 An independent cultural audit and investigation of our diversity and inclusion practices is underway, with actionable recommendations to follow.

 I, along with other Papa John’s leaders, visited Atlanta, Los Angeles, Dallas, Detroit and Chicago as part of a listening tour to get feedback from team members and franchisees on how we can do better.

 Recently, the Papa John’s leadership team completed unconscious bias training. We will be rolling out the program across the company.

 I am personally committed to adding more diversity to the leadership team of Papa John’s.

 We’re assembling a special advisory group comprised of nationally-respected diversity, equity and inclusion experts to help guide us.

 We’re kicking off the development of two key long-term initiatives: The Papa John’s minority-owned franchise expansion and development program; and Formation of a new foundation that will be focused on making a positive impact in communities where our team members live and work. We will support causes that bring people together.

 We are just getting started and we recognize this is only a beginning. On behalf of the 120,000 team members in the Papa John’s family, you have my commitment we will always strive for better.

 Sincerely,

 Steve Ritchie

 CEO, Papa John's |||||
What is a summary?

– "I'd rather have frozen pizza than racist pizza." So reads a customer tweet about Papa John's, and it's not one the pizza company is shying away from. Quite the contrary, the message is highlighted in the chain's first new ad since John Schnatter was forced to resign last month over his use of the n-word. In the 65-second ad posted to social media Friday, a series of angry tweets are displayed, then the words, "You expected better from Papa John's. So did we." Then, after showing more tweets, the words "Thank you for your anger" appear. That last word is subsequently replaced with "criticism" and "honesty." "It is making us better." CEO Steve Ritchie also posted extensive comments on Twitter, which you can read here, and a letter to customers, which you can read here. CNN reports the company plans to hold mandatory bias training sessions beginning in October at its company-owned stores and is going live with a minority-owned franchise expansion and development program. The ad certainly hasn't abated Schnatter's anger. A rep for the former CEO had this to say, per CNBC: "The video produced by the company represents another example of the company attempting to hide the true facts. It omits the avalanche of comments made by customers, employees, and others who support John Schnatter and feel that the company is wrong."


Summarize this article:

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will officiate at a same-sex wedding this weekend in what is believed to be a first for a member of America's highest court.

 FILE - In this July 24, 2013, file photo Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg poses for a photo in her chambers at the Supreme Court in Washington, before an interview with the Associated Press. Ginsburg... (Associated Press)

 FILE - This Nov. 10, 2007 provided by The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts shows Michael M. Kaiser, president of Kennedy Center, at the Al-Kasaba theatre and cinematheque in Ramallah, West Bank,... (Associated Press)

 Ginsburg will officiate Saturday at the marriage of Kennedy Center President Michael Kaiser and John Roberts, a government economist.

 "Michael Kaiser is a friend and someone I much admire," Ginsburg said in a written statement Friday. "That is why I am officiating at his wedding."

 The private ceremony will take place at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, a national memorial to President John F. Kennedy. The 80-year-old Ginsburg, an opera lover, is a frequent guest at the center.

 Same-sex marriage is legal in the District of Columbia and 13 U.S. states.

 "I think it will be one more statement that people who love each other and want to live together should be able to enjoy the blessings and the strife in the marriage relationship," Ginsburg told The Washington Post in an interview.

 Kaiser told The Associated Press that he asked Ginsburg to officiate because she is a longtime friend.

 "It's very meaningful mostly to have a friend officiate, and then for someone of her stature, it's a very big honor," Kaiser said. "I think that everything that's going on that makes same-sex marriage possible and visible helps to encourage others and to make the issue seem less of an issue, to make it just more part of life."

 Justices generally avoid taking stands on political issues. The wedding, though, comes after the court's landmark ruling in June to expand federal recognition of same-sex marriages, striking down part of an anti-gay marriage law.

 While hearing arguments in the case in March, Ginsburg argued for treating marriages equally. The rights associated with marriage are pervasive, she said, and the law had created two classes of marriage. ||||| Ruth Bader Ginsburg, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, stands in her chambers on Aug. 23. (Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg)

 Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will become the first Supreme Court member to conduct a same-sex marriage ceremony Saturday when she officiates at the Washington wedding of Kennedy Center President Michael M. Kaiser.

 The gala wedding of Kaiser and economist John Roberts at the performing arts center brings together the nation’s highest court and the capital’s high society and will mark a new milepost in the recognition of same-sex unions.

 Such marriages were virtually unheard of a little more than a decade ago but now are legal in the nation’s capital, 13 states and in all or part of 17 other countries. After victories at the Supreme Court earlier this summer, a wave of litigation is challenging bans on same-sex marriages in states where they remain prohibited.

 During a recent interview, Ginsburg seemed excited about being the first member of the court to conduct such a ceremony and said it was only a logical next step.

 “I think it will be one more statement that people who love each other and want to live together should be able to enjoy the blessings and the strife in the marriage relationship,” Ginsburg said.

 She added: “It won’t be long before there will be another” performed by a justice. Indeed, she has another planned for September.

 Ginsburg and Kaiser are close friends. She is perhaps the Supreme Court’s most ardent supporter of the fine arts, especially opera. Kaiser, 59, has been at the helm of the Kennedy Center since 2001 and is an internationally recognized expert in arts management and one of Washington’s most influential civic leaders.

 “I can’t imagine someone I’d rather be married by” than Ginsburg, Kaiser said in an interview.

 Roberts, 32, who works at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, is not related to Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. When save-the-date cards were sent out this spring, there were jokes involving the coincidence of the names.

 Earlier this summer, Ginsburg was in the majority in a pair of major gay rights victories at the Supreme Court. The court said the federal government may not refuse to recognize legally married gay couples and reinstated a lower-court ruling that found California’s ban on same-sex marriages unconstitutional.

 The chief justice was in the minority that would have upheld the Defense of Marriage Act of 1996, which said the federal government would recognize marriages only between a man and woman.

 The Supreme Court’s decisions in June had no effect on the marriage plans of Kaiser and Roberts because same-sex unions have been legal in the District of Columbia since 2010.

 Kaiser and Roberts are scheduled to be married in the Kennedy Center atrium Saturday night before 220 guests. Invited are stars of opera (Renee Fleming, Harolyn Blackwell), from Broadway (Ron Raines, Barbara Cook) and an array of some of Washington’s most influential philanthropic and arts patrons, such as Richard and Betsy DeVos, Catherine and Wayne Reynolds and Jacqueline Mars.

 It is not uncommon for Supreme Court justices to officiate at weddings, most often for former law clerks or close friends or relatives. Ginsburg tied the knot for her son, for instance. Justice Clarence Thomas performed a ceremony for radio host Rush Limbaugh.

 Ginsburg said she thought she and her colleagues had not been asked previously to conduct a same-sex ceremony for fear it might compromise their ability to hear the issue when it came before the court. But once the cases had been decided, Ginsburg seemed eager for the opportunity.

 David Hagedorn read Ginsburg’s comments about not having been asked this spring and sent her a letter asking her to officiate at his Sept. 22 wedding to Michael Widomski, director of communications and executive affairs for the National Weather Service.

 Hagedorn, a food writer and contributor to The Washington Post, had met Ginsburg at a social event but said he did not know her.

 Ginsburg said she could not answer until after the term ended. He received a letter agreeing to conduct the ceremony that was dated June 26, the day the court announced its decision in the DOMA case. “You can imagine what that meant to Michael and me,” Hagedorn wrote in an e-mail.

 Her prominent role in the debate about same-sex marriage will be another high-profile moment for Ginsburg, who turned 80 this year and last month marked her 20th year on the court.

 With the retirement of Justice John Paul Stevens in 2010, Ginsburg became the senior justice among the court’s four liberals and has embraced the role. When they are in the minority on important decisions, Ginsburg has urged fellow Justices Stephen G. Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan to unite behind a single dissenting opinion.

 And despite her more prominent role on the court, the question she has been asked most frequently this summer is when she plans to leave. Several liberal commentators have suggested she retire in time for President Obama to nominate her successor.

 But Ginsburg said she has no plans to leave anytime soon.

 “All I can say is what I’ve already said: At my age, you take it year by year,” she said. |||||

– Ruth Bader Ginsburg is going to make some history tonight: She will become the first Supreme Court justice to preside over a same-sex wedding. Ginsburg will conduct the ceremony of her friend, Kennedy Center chief Michael Kaiser, and his partner, economist John Roberts, reports AP. (Yes, she's heard the jokes about the latter's name.) The wedding will take place in a high-profile locale familiar to the opera-loving justice: the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in DC. “I think it will be one more statement that people who love each other and want to live together should be able to enjoy the blessings and the strife in the marriage relationship,” Ginsburg tells the Washington Post. She plans to perform another gay wedding next month. The 80-year-old justice also made headlines recently by making clear that she has no plans to retire anytime soon.


Here is a news article: The terrorist inside my husband's brain

 Susan Schneider Williams , BFA From Susan Schneider Fine Art, Marin County, CA. Correspondence to S. Schneider Williams: susan{at}susanschneiderfineart.com

 I am writing to share a story with you, specifically for you. My hope is that it will help you understand your patients along with their spouses and caregivers a little more. And as for the research you do, perhaps this will add a few more faces behind the why you do what you do. I am sure there are already so many.

 This is a personal story, sadly tragic and heartbreaking, but by sharing this information with you I know that you can help make a difference in the lives of others.

 As you may know, my husband Robin Williams had the little-known but deadly Lewy body disease (LBD). He died from suicide in 2014 at the end of an intense, confusing, and relatively swift persecution at the hand of this disease's symptoms and pathology. He was not alone in his traumatic experience with this neurologic disease. As you may know, almost 1.5 million nationwide are suffering similarly right now.

 Although not alone, his case was extreme. Not until the coroner's report, 3 months after his death, would I learn that it was diffuse LBD that took him. All 4 of the doctors I met with afterwards and who had reviewed his records indicated his was one of the worst pathologies they had seen. He had about 40% loss of dopamine neurons and almost no neurons were free of Lewy bodies throughout the entire brain and brainstem.

 Robin is and will always be a larger-than-life spirit who was inside the body of a normal man with a human brain. He just happened to be that 1 in 6 who is affected by brain disease.

 Not only did I lose my husband to LBD, I lost my best friend. Robin and I had in each other a safe harbor of unconditional love that we had both always longed for. For 7 years together, we got to tell each other our greatest hopes and fears without any judgment, just safety. As we said often to one another, we were each other's anchor and mojo: that magical elixir of feeling grounded and inspired at the same time by each other's presence.

 One of my favorite bedrock things we would do together was review how our days went. Often, this was more than just at the end of the day. It did not matter if we were both working at home, traveling together, or if he was on the road. We would discuss our joys and triumphs, our fears and insecurities, and our concerns. Any obstacles life threw at us individually or as a couple were somehow surmountable because we had each other.

 When LBD began sending a firestorm of symptoms our way, this foundation of friendship and love was our armor.

 The colors were changing and the air was crisp; it was already late October of 2013 and our second wedding anniversary. Robin had been under his doctors' care. He had been struggling with symptoms that seemed unrelated: constipation, urinary difficulty, heartburn, sleeplessness and insomnia, and a poor sense of smell—and lots of stress. He also had a slight tremor in his left hand that would come and go. For the time being, that was attributed to a previous shoulder injury.

 On this particular weekend, he started having gut discomfort. Having been by my husband's side for many years already, I knew his normal reactions when it came to fear and anxiety. What would follow was markedly out of character for him. His fear and anxiety skyrocketed to a point that was alarming. I wondered privately, Is my husband a hypochondriac? Not until after Robin left us would I discover that a sudden and prolonged spike in fear and anxiety can be an early indication of LBD.

 He was tested for diverticulitis and the results were negative. Like the rest of the symptoms that followed, they seemed to come and go at random times. Some symptoms were more prevalent than others, but these increased in frequency and severity over the next 10 months.

 By wintertime, problems with paranoia, delusions and looping, insomnia, memory, and high cortisol levels—just to name a few—were settling in hard. Psychotherapy and other medical help was becoming a constant in trying to manage and solve these seemingly disparate conditions.

 I was getting accustomed to the two of us spending more time in reviewing our days. The subjects though were starting to fall predominantly in the category of fear and anxiety. These concerns that used to have a normal range of tenor were beginning to lodge at a high frequency for him. Once the coroner's report was reviewed, a doctor was able to point out to me that there was a high concentration of Lewy bodies within the amygdala. This likely caused the acute paranoia and out-of-character emotional responses he was having. How I wish he could have known why he was struggling, that it was not a weakness in his heart, spirit, or character.

 In early April, Robin had a panic attack. He was in Vancouver, filming Night at the Museum 3. His doctor recommended an antipsychotic medication to help with the anxiety. It seemed to make things better in some ways, but far worse in others. Quickly we searched for something else. Not until after he left us would I discover that antipsychotic medications often make things worse for people with LBD. Also, Robin had a high sensitivity to medications and sometimes his reactions were unpredictable. This is apparently a common theme in people with LBD.

 During the filming of the movie, Robin was having trouble remembering even one line for his scenes, while just 3 years prior he had played in a full 5-month season of the Broadway production Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, often doing two shows a day with hundreds of lines—and not one mistake. This loss of memory and inability to control his anxiety was devastating to him.

 While I was on a photo shoot at Phoenix Lake, capturing scenes to paint, he called several times. He was very concerned with insecurities he was having about himself and interactions with others. We went over every detail. The fears were unfounded and I could not convince him otherwise. I was powerless in helping him see his own brilliance.

 For the first time, my own reasoning had no effect in helping my husband find the light through the tunnels of his fear. I felt his disbelief in the truths I was saying. My heart and my hope were shattered temporarily. We had reached a place we had never been before. My husband was trapped in the twisted architecture of his neurons and no matter what I did I could not pull him out.

 In early May, the movie wrapped and he came home from Vancouver—like a 747 airplane coming in with no landing gear. I have since learned that people with LBD who are highly intelligent may appear to be okay for longer initially, but then, it is as though the dam suddenly breaks and they cannot hold it back anymore. In Robin's case, on top of being a genius, he was a Julliard-trained actor. I will never know the true depth of his suffering, nor just how hard he was fighting. But from where I stood, I saw the bravest man in the world playing the hardest role of his life.

 Robin was losing his mind and he was aware of it. Can you imagine the pain he felt as he experienced himself disintegrating? And not from something he would ever know the name of, or understand? Neither he, nor anyone could stop it—no amount of intelligence or love could hold it back.

 Powerless and frozen, I stood in the darkness of not knowing what was happening to my husband. Was it a single source, a single terrorist, or was this a combo pack of disease raining down on him?

 He kept saying, “I just want to reboot my brain.” Doctor appointments, testing, and psychiatry kept us in perpetual motion. Countless blood tests, urine tests, plus rechecks of cortisol levels and lymph nodes. A brain scan was done, looking for a possible tumor on his pituitary gland, and his cardiologist rechecked his heart. Everything came back negative, except for high cortisol levels. We wanted to be happy about all the negative test results, but Robin and I both had a deep sense that something was terribly wrong.

 On May 28th, he was diagnosed with Parkinson disease (PD).

 We had an answer. My heart swelled with hope. But somehow I knew Robin was not buying it.

 When we were in the neurologist's office learning exactly what this meant, Robin had a chance to ask some burning questions. He asked, “Do I have Alzheimer's? Dementia? Am I schizophrenic?” The answers were the best we could have gotten: No, no, and no. There were no indications of these other diseases. It is apparent to me now that he was most likely keeping the depth of his symptoms to himself.

 Robin continued doing all the right things—therapy, physical therapy, bike riding, and working out with his trainer. He used all the skills he picked up and had fine-tuned from the Dan Anderson retreat in Minnesota, like deeper 12-step work, meditation, and yoga. We went to see a specialist at Stanford University who taught him self-hypnosis techniques to quell the irrational fears and anxiety. Nothing seemed to alleviate his symptoms for long.

 Throughout all of this, Robin was clean and sober, and somehow, we sprinkled those summer months with happiness, joy, and the simple things we loved: meals and birthday celebrations with family and friends, meditating together, massages, and movies, but mostly just holding each other's hand.

 Robin was growing weary. The parkinsonian mask was ever present and his voice was weakened. His left hand tremor was continuous now and he had a slow, shuffling gait. He hated that he could not find the words he wanted in conversations. He would thrash at night and still had terrible insomnia. At times, he would find himself stuck in a frozen stance, unable to move, and frustrated when he came out of it. He was beginning to have trouble with visual and spatial abilities in the way of judging distance and depth. His loss of basic reasoning just added to his growing confusion.

 It felt like he was drowning in his symptoms, and I was drowning along with him. Typically the plethora of LBD symptoms appear and disappear at random times—even throughout the course of a day. I experienced my brilliant husband being lucid with clear reasoning 1 minute and then, 5 minutes later, blank, lost in confusion.

 Prior history can also complicate a diagnosis. In Robin's case, he had a history of depression that had not been active for 6 years. So when he showed signs of depression just months before he left, it was interpreted as a satellite issue, maybe connected to PD.

 Throughout the course of Robin's battle, he had experienced nearly all of the 40-plus symptoms of LBD, except for one. He never said he had hallucinations.

 A year after he left, in speaking with one of the doctors who reviewed his records, it became evident that most likely he did have hallucinations, but was keeping that to himself.

 It was nearing the end of July and we were told Robin would need to have inpatient neurocognitive testing done in order to evaluate the mood disorder aspect of his condition. In the meantime, his medication was switched from Mirapex to Sinemet in an effort to reduce symptoms. We were assured Robin would be feeling better soon, and that his PD was early and mild. We felt hopeful again. What we did not know was that when these diseases “start” (are diagnosed) they have actually been going on for a long time.

 By now, our combined sleep deficit was becoming a danger to both of us. We were instructed to sleep apart until we could catch up on our sleep. The goal was to have him begin inpatient testing free of the sleep-deprived state he was in.

 As the second weekend in August approached, it seemed his delusional looping was calming down. Maybe the switch in medications was working. We did all the things we love on Saturday day and into the evening, it was perfect—like one long date. By the end of Sunday, I was feeling that he was getting better.

 When we retired for sleep, in our customary way, my husband said to me, “Goodnight, my love,” and waited for my familiar reply: “Goodnight, my love.”

 His words still echo through my heart today.

 Monday, August 11, Robin was gone.

 After Robin left, time has never functioned the same for me. My search for meaning has replicated like an inescapable spring throughout nearly every aspect of my world, including the most mundane.

 Robin and I had begun our unplanned research on the brain through the door of blind experience. During the final months we shared together, our sights were locked fast on identifying and vanquishing the terrorist within his brain. Since then, I have continued our research but on the other side of that experience, in the realm of the science behind it.

 Three months after Robin's death, the autopsy report was finally ready for review. When the forensic pathologist and coroner's deputy asked if I was surprised by the diffuse LBD pathology, I said, “Absolutely not,” even though I had no idea what it meant at the time. The mere fact that something had invaded nearly every region of my husband's brain made perfect sense to me.

 In the year that followed, I set out to expand my view and understanding of LBD. I met with medical professionals who had reviewed Robin's last 2 years of medical records, the coroner's report, and brain scans. Their reactions were all the same: that Robin's was one of the worst LBD pathologies they had seen and that there was nothing else anyone could have done. Our entire medical team was on the right track and we would have gotten there eventually. In fact, we were probably close.

 But would having a diagnosis while he was alive really have made a difference when there is no cure? We will never know the answer to this. I am not convinced that the knowledge would have done much more than prolong Robin's agony while he would surely become one of the most famous test subjects of new medicines and ongoing medical trials. Even if we experienced some level of comfort in knowing the name, and fleeting hope from temporary comfort with medications, the terrorist was still going to kill him. There is no cure and Robin's steep and rapid decline was assured.

 The massive proliferation of Lewy bodies throughout his brain had done so much damage to neurons and neurotransmitters that in effect, you could say he had chemical warfare in his brain.

 One professional stated, “It was as if he had cancer throughout every organ of his body.” The key problem seemed to be that no one could correctly interpret Robin's symptoms in time.

 I was driven to learn everything I could about this disease that I finally had the name of. Some of what I learned surprised me.

 One neuropathologist described LBD and PD as being at opposite ends of a disease spectrum. That spectrum is based on something they share in common: the presence of Lewy bodies—the unnatural clumping of the normal protein, α-synuclein, within brain neurons. I was also surprised to learn that a person is diagnosed with LBD vs PD depending on which symptoms present first.

 After months and months, I was finally able to be specific about Robin's disease. Clinically he had PD, but pathologically he had diffuse LBD. The predominant symptoms Robin had were not physical—the pathology more than backed that up. However you look at it—the presence of Lewy bodies took his life.

 The journey Robin and I were on together has led me to knowing the American Academy of Neurology and other groups and doctors. It has led me to discover the American Brain Foundation, where I now serve on the Board of Directors.

 This is where you come into the story.

 Hopefully from this sharing of our experience you will be inspired to turn Robin's suffering into something meaningful through your work and wisdom. It is my belief that when healing comes out of Robin's experience, he will not have battled and died in vain. You are uniquely positioned to help with this.

 I know you have accomplished much already in the areas of research and discovery toward cures in brain disease. And I am sure at times the progress has felt painfully slow. Do not give up. Trust that a cascade of cures and discovery is imminent in all areas of brain disease and you will be a part of making that happen.

 If only Robin could have met you. He would have loved you—not just because he was a genius and enjoyed science and discovery, but because he would have found a lot of material within your work to use in entertaining his audiences, including the troops. In fact, the most repeat character role he played throughout his career was a doctor, albeit different forms of practice.

 You and your work have ignited a spark within the region of my brain where curiosity and interest lie and within my heart where hope lives. I want to follow you. Not like a crazed fan, but like someone who knows you just might be the one who discovers the cure for LBD and other brain diseases.

 Thank you for what you have done, and for what you are about to do.

 Next Section DISCLOSURE Susan Schneider Williams serves on the Board of Directors for the American Brain Foundation (americanbrainfoundation.org) but reports no disclosures relevant to the manuscript. Go to Neurology.org for full disclosures. ||||| 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. |||||
A summary of this is?

– In what Discover calls a "unique and touching paper" published in the journal Neurology Thursday, Robin Williams' widow shares the heartbreaking story of her husband's final 10 months and asks neurologists not to give up in their quest toward brain disease cures. Susan Schneider Williams refers to Lewy Body disease, the neurodegenerative disorder that ultimately led to Williams' suicide in August 2014, as "the terrorist inside my husband's brain." She describes how, toward the end of his life, "Robin was losing his mind and he was aware of it." He was struggling with paranoia, anxiety, delusions, insomnia, and other symptoms both physical and mental, and for months, he and his wife could get no answers about what was happening to him. He was ultimately diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, but as his symptoms continued to worsen, he grew "weary" and it felt like they were both "drowning." Then, ultimately, he took his own life. It was only after his death that an autopsy revealed Williams actually had Lewy Body disease—his clinical symptoms mirrored Parkinson's, but his brain pathology showed that almost all of the neurons throughout his brain and brainstem had been besieged by Lewy bodies, Schneider Williams writes. When she found out, she wasn't surprised: "The mere fact that something had invaded nearly every region of my husband's brain made perfect sense to me," she writes. She has spent the time since Williams' death learning all she can about Lewy Body disease, for which there is no cure, and she now serves on the Board of Directors for the American Brain Foundation. Her full piece is worth a read.


CLOSE Director Brian Henson explains how Melissa McCarthy's sugar-snorting scene in "The Happytime Murders" was done. USA TODAY

 Maya Rudolph (left) and Melissa McCarthy share screen time with puppets in the comedy "The Happytime Murders." (Photo: HOPPER STONE/STX ENTERTAINMENT)

 Hardcore puppet sex and four-letter words that would make Big Bird blush sound like a googly-eyed good time until you’re faced with 90 unfunny minutes of it.

 "The Happytime Murders" (★½ out of four; rated R; in theaters nationwide Friday) tries hard, and annoyingly so, to be a raucous, adult-oriented departure from the Muppets and denizens of “Sesame Street,” one in which an octopus milks a cow to orgasmic effect and a bunny shops for chicken porn. Stuffed full of rampant badness, the scattershot comedy isn’t nearly as clever or subversive as it thinks it is.

 Set in a world where men and puppets co-exist, though the latter are second-class citizens, the noir-ish narrative centers on blue-skinned former cop (and now private eye) Phil Phillips (puppeteer Bill Barretta) and his human ex-partner, L.A. detective Connie Edwards (Melissa McCarthy). A violent incident in the past soured their relationship – and resulted in a ban on puppet cops – so when they run into each other at a crime scene, snarky and vicious banter ensues.

 Sandra puts the moves on private eye Phil in "The Happytime Murders." (Photo: HOPPER STONE/STX ENTERTAINMENT)

 A robbery gone wrong at a puppet sex store and a series of dead bodies (usually with stuffing falling out of them) leads Phil to believe that the stars of cheesy 1990s-style sitcom “The Happytime Gang,” the first hit to feature both human and puppet stars, are being targeted. The show just happens to be up for syndication, which means a windfall for those still alive.

 To solve the case, Phil and Connie form an uneasy alliance and begin to reconnect as they delve into a puppet underworld of bunny-filled strip clubs, sugar-snorting poker games and assorted places unfit for colorful characters who look like rejects from a children’s program. ("Sesame Street" notably sued filmmakers and lost, worrying the explicit content would tarnish its brand. No worries there, since the only thing this film ruins is an hour and a half of your life.)

 More: 'Happytime Murders' shocks with raunchy puppets (not Muppets)

 Also: How Melissa McCarthy really 'snorted' puppet drugs in 'Happytime Murders'

 More: 10 movies you absolutely must see this fall, from 'Halloween' to 'A Star Is Born'

 There is definite artistry in the puppeteering for director Brian Henson (son of legendary Muppets creator Jim Henson): Phil, his client/love interest Sandra (Dorien Davies), pervy rabbit Mr. Bumblypants (Kevin Clash, formerly Elmo) and others have lived a hard-luck and/or oversexed life, and it shows in their felt bodies. But by the time one character poops plastic eggs and another ejaculates Silly String, the novelty of puppets behaving badly is long gone.

 Exotic dancer Jenny (Elizabeth Banks) entertains her rabbit clientele in "The Happytime Murders." (Photo: HOPPER STONE/STX ENTERTAINMENT)

 The gags make Fozzie Bear a comedic genius by comparison, but at least the talented human actors keep the film from being a “Happytime” disaster. McCarthy is as sharp-witted as ever with one-liners and caustic put-downs, Maya Rudolph boosts the proceedings as Phil’s loyal secretary Bubbles, and Elizabeth Banks has a fun role as an exotic dancer also connected to the resident gumshoe.

 Yet all the film's most interesting aspects have been done better elsewhere. "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" is the gold standard for portraying cutesy personalities as a disenfranchised population, and "Happytime Murders" completely fumbles that theme. It unfortunately doesn’t fully commit to the raunch the way, say, "Sausage Party" does. And nothing touches "Team America: World Police" when it comes to hilarious puppet intercourse.

 At the risk of being as Muppet-y self-righteous as Sam the Eagle, there are much better uses of your time than this travesty of fluffy shenanigans.

 Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2w96Slx ||||| Rescue me, Elmo!

 That’s what you’ll shout if you’re trapped in a movie theater playing “The Happytime Murders,” the wretched puppets-behaving-badly comedy directed by Brian Henson.

 The son of Muppets creator Jim Henson has delivered a cliché-ridden, laughless bore that wastes lead actress Melissa McCarthy’s prodigious comic talents and beats well-trod territory with a mallet.

 “The Happytime Murders” is as fresh as the old “Wayne’s World” jokes it shoves in. It’s a movie in which puppet crabs make cracks about getting pelvic crabs, and the line “Looks like the carpet doesn’t match the drapes” is uttered twice.

 As stale as a neglected saltine, the flick is another police-noir parody with all the familiar hallmarks: brooding narration, a cigarette-smoke-filled office, a door with a frosted window and a helpless blond bombshell. Think “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” minus the innovation or fun.

 The bawdy tale is set in a decrepit Los Angeles that’s plagued by crime, and where our felt-y friends are an oppressed minority. Kids yell “stupid puppet!” and beat them up, while the word “sock” is now a racial slur.

 The smoky office belongs to Phil Philips (Bill Barretta), a puppet private investigator and former cop. He was kicked off the LAPD years earlier when, his bosses believe, he purposefully didn’t gun down a puppet perp. His human partner, Detective Connie Edwards (McCarthy), was nearly killed in the botched operation.

 That bumbling duo is thrust back together when puppet and human cast members of popular TV show “The Happytime Gang,” including Phil’s famous stuffed brother, start getting killed off one by one. He goes rogue to solve the case with Connie.

 What’s not solved is the film’s No. 1 problem: It’s not funny.

 Most bits are either gross or groaners. A gag involving boudoir silly string is amusing until it becomes nauseating. Watching McCarthy snort puppet crack didn’t make me crack a smile. The only cast member who earns some giggles is Maya Rudolph as Phil’s secretary, who’s secretly in love with him. She’s a comedy alchemist who can turn turds into gold.

 “The Happytime Murders” is the latest addition to McCarthy’s do-not-see CV. Since “Bridesmaids,” filmmakers have slapped her in mostly dumb schlock like this.

 Being a Henson project, you’d expect the film’s puppetry to be the one redeemable factor. But those characters are strangely generic and clumsily handled. Forgettable.

 There’s more fun to be had watching a kid play with some socks. ||||| “These aren’t the Muppets,” director Brian Henson might remind us, but his smile and wink would hint at what he really thinks. The son of Muppets creator Jim Henson and the man who filled his dad’s shoes directing The Muppet Christmas Carol and Muppets Treasure Island, Henson has decided to cross over to the dark side with his “alternative Muppets” farce, The Happytime Murders. Careful to avoid copyright issues (and to avoid giving kids nightmares), Henson doesn’t give us a faux Kermit or Miss Piggy. However, although all the puppets in The Happytime Murders are new, they are obviously Muppets, regardless of how vociferously the filmmakers may deny it. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge, say no more, say no more.

 Despite being one of the shortest theatrical releases of the year, clocking in at about 75 minutes (not counting end credits), The Happytime Murders feels overlong. That’s probably because the plot is nonsensical and pointless. This is all about the concept of oversexed, hard-swearing Muppets interacting with humans in an alternative universe version of L.A. The film’s “high concept” catches the attention, but it’s like the first time we heard Betty White drop the f-bomb. There was a certain shock value, it was worth a laugh, but where do you go from there? It’s the same thing with nasty Muppets. The transgressive element is edgy and at times amusing, but it wears thin quickly and once it has worn out, we’re left with warmed-over Dashiell Hammett, complete with the Sam Spade-inspired voiceover.

 Recognizing that there has to be something more than Muppets cursing, flashing their crotches in imitation of Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct, and doing un-family friendly things, Henson sets up the puppet culture as a thinly-veiled allegory. The social commentary about puppet discrimination and marginalization isn’t subtle but it gives The Happytime Murders a claim to being more than a raunchy look at what happens on Sesame Street when the cameras are turned off.

 The Happytime Murders reunites two former partners, (human) LAPD detective Connie Edwards (Melissa McCarthy) and (puppet) PI Phil Phillips (voice of Bill Barretta), when an investigation into a series of puppet murders involves them both. For Connie, it’s her job. For Phil, it’s personal – his brother is the second victim. All of the dead “socks” were stars of a once-popular TV show, The Happytime Gang (the first program with a mostly-puppet cast to achieve “crossover” popularity – a nod to The Cosby Show). Additional deaths indicate an inside job and, once the finger of suspicion points to Phil, it’s up to Connie to solve the crime and clear her ex-partner. Aiding her in this endeavor is Phil’s secretary, Bubbles (Maya Rudolph), who has a crush on her boss.

 The film’s puppet/human dynamics are strange. All the energy and color resides with the puppets. In an odd reversal of what one might expect, they are more animate than their human counterparts. Melissa McCarthy, for example, has the life of a piece of background furniture – a surprise since, even in her worst films, she’s normally able to dominate the screen. Fading into the background isn’t her style but that’s what happens here. The situation is only a little better with Maya Rudolph and Elizabeth Banks (whose role, as The Happytime Gang’s only human, is small). Leslie David Baker (as Connie’s lieutenant) and Joel McHale (as a racist FBI agent) gain attention by being as cartoonish as possible.

 The noir mystery element never works. Fortunately, it’s treated as a framework and the filmmakers aren’t overly invested in attempting to mine deeply into the territory. The Happytime Murders is intended primarily as a comedy and, while there’s a cheeky freshness in the early scenes, it eventually becomes tiresome and a little off-putting. This would seem like the perfect playground for McCarthy, so it’s strange that she seems so out of place.

 The obvious antecedent to The Happytime Murders is Who Framed Roger Rabbit? The differences, however, go beyond the derivative nature of the former. While Roger Rabbit felt like a fully-formed story worth telling, The Happytime Murders too often comes across as a skit that runs for too long. Everything about the movie is stunted – from the running time to the production values to the story. Although it might work perfectly well on television (there are enough bawdy laughs to ensure an acceptable level of entertainment), it never gels on the big screen. This is unquestionably a better bet for home viewing than a trip to a theater.

 Happytime Murders, The (United States/China, 2018) ||||| 1.5 stars (out of 4)

 Hi there, everyone! This Happytime Murders review is brought to you by the letter “I.” Insipid. Imbeciles. Incomprehensible. Insane. You can use that last word in a sentence such as “The person that thought this witless, crude black noire puppet farce would be a rousing crowd-pleaser must be insane.” The letter also can be used on its own, as in “I think we have a strong contender for the worst film of 2018.”

 Let’s address the stuffed elephant in the room: This scathing review isn’t a case of a critic not having the bawdy sense of humor gene required to appreciate crass humor, OK? Married with Children and Howard Stern are two of my all-time favorite pop culture touchstones. I have a brother. I’m not offended or shocked by the sight of two puppets having porn star sex. Just make it brutally funny and inspired. The Happytime Murders simply goes for the lowest common denominator of comedy from beginning to end. And those 90 minutes in between are excruciating. Let me put it in italics for emphasis. Excruciating.

 This was never going to be a genius hybrid of Avenue Q meets The Great Muppet Caper. Not with this old-timey set-up: Hard-nosed detective Phil Phillips (voiced by Bill Barretta) is the only puppet to have ever served on the police force. Now he’s a private eye working on behalf of marginalized puppets in Los Angeles. After his brother gets stuffed out, he starts investigating and realizes that someone is killing all the stars of a popular 80s kids TV show called The Happytime Gang. Who would do such a thing?!

 To solve the case, Phil is paired with his former human partner. She’s played by Melissa McCarthy, who does her usual obnoxious, tough-talking caricature shtick. The two are not on good terms, as evidenced by the fact that McCarthy bites down on Phil’s man part in a moment of pent-up rage. The novelty of puppets acting like lewd rejects from Sausage Party or Team America: World Police is already worn off by the time McCarthy enters the picture. She does nothing with the limp script. Same goes for Maya Rudolph, Joel McHale and Elizabeth Banks.

 The tangled web of The Happytime Gang syndication contract negotiations won’t raise anyone’s pulse, so the filmmakers (writer Todd Berger and director Brian Henson) rely heavily on the R-rated shock factor. The piece de resistance, as seen in The Happytime Murders trailer, involves a graphic and messy sexual encounter that drags on and on and on until all traces of laughter have been metaphorically squeezed out. You’ll see that in Act 1. Or, you know, just watch the trailer for free.

 There actually is a place and time for puppets behaving badly. Even a family-driven product as accessible as The Muppet Show had an air of subversion — and Kermit the Frog and Justin Timberlake once wrestled each other on a memorable episode of Saturday Night Live. But despite Henson’s lineage as the son of late Muppets creator (and genius) Jim Henson, The Happytime Murders is a terribly misguided move. Indeed, it doesn’t take an investigator with a heart of felt to figure out that a half-baked flick with poorly executed ideas and lazy use of gross-out humor will end up DOA.

 The Happytime Murders opens in theaters on Friday, August 24.

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 Want stories like these delivered straight to your phone? Download the Us Weekly iPhone app now! ||||| No Sesame. All Street. THE HAPPYTIME MURDERS is a filthy comedy set in the seedy underbelly of Los Angeles where puppets and humans coexist. Two clashing detectives with a shared secret, one human (Melissa McCarthy) and one puppet, are forced to work together again to solve the brutal murders of the former cast of a beloved classic puppet television show. |||||

Write a summary.

– Remember the hubbub over this trailer with NSFW puppets? Well, The Happytime Murders is out Friday, starring Melissa McCarthy as a detective probing a series of puppet murders with her puppet partner. Critics, meanwhile, are busy investigating why the R-rated film is, in their opinions, downright awful. (The film has a 26% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes.) What they're saying: While "there's a cheeky freshness in the early scenes," the film "too often comes across as a skit that runs for too long … probably because the plot is nonsensical and pointless," James Berardinelli writes at ReelViews. McCarthy surprisingly doesn't help, he writes. She "has the life of a piece of background furniture." Brian Truitt argues "McCarthy is as sharp-witted as ever," but his praise basically ends there. With gags that "make Fozzie Bear a comedic genius by comparison," this "scattershot comedy isn't nearly as clever or subversive as it thinks it is," he writes at USA Today, adding "there are much better uses of your time than this travesty." "There's more fun to be had watching a kid play with some socks," Johnny Oleksinski writes at the New York Post, noting the film is "as stale as a neglected saltine." The prevailing problem: "It's not funny," Oleksinski writes. In fact, "the only cast member who earns some giggles is Maya Rudolph." Mara Reinstein is just relieved her viewing experience is over. "The Happytime Murders simply goes for the lowest common denominator of comedy from beginning to end. And those 90 minutes in between are excruciating. Let me put it in italics for emphasis. Excruciating," she writes at US Weekly, calling out the "lazy use of gross-out humor."


Jonah Hill has quietly become a good “SNL” host. His name doesn’t get mentioned in the same sentence as Timberlake or Jon Hamm (who somehow hasn’t hosted since 2010), but here he is -- back for a third time -- giving another solid performance.

 Though, the cast is way too big right now. It’s impossible to get to know the cast when there are 17 (!) cast members fighting for airtime. There's no way around it, the show just feels muddled right now. I thought the cast was a little too big when it was at 14 for the past few seasons – but 17 seems to be a real hindrance. Look, this was the 12th episode of the season and I’m still catching myself saying, “Wait, was that Brooks Wheelan? I think that was Brooks Wheelan.” My point: I really don't know who Brooks Wheelan is. (I don't mean to pick on Mr. Wheelan, I could mention quite a few other cast member names instead.) I don’t know what the immediate solution is (even with the upcoming departure of Seth Meyers, he’s being replaced in the cast by Colin Jost), but it’s been difficult to build a connection with this particular cast.

 Sketch of the Night

 ”Lamborghini” (Bayer, Strong, Hill) I’ve never been a huge fan of this particular sketch. I mean, it’s certainly not “The Californians” when it comes to the echelon of “sketches I do not like,” but these always seemed like they were missing something or went on way too long. Having said that, this installment was hilarious. All of the jokes worked and Strong and Bayer have a rapport with each other now that’s really, really great. If the attitude is, “We’re going to keep doing this sketch until we get it right,” well, it’s done.

 Score: 8.5

 The Good

 ”Jonah Hill Monologue” (Hill, Wells, Milhiser, Killam, DiCaprio) Leonardo DiCaprio doesn’t really bother with the talk show circuit, so it’s a little startling to see him pop up on network television. It was interesting, because he seemed a bit if a natural on stage and it would be interesting to see him host some day – which, by the way, will never happen. Anyway, DiCaprio and Hill mocked “Titanic” and it was funny – and I’m sure, somewhere, Billy Zane threw a shoe at his television.

 Score: 7.5

 ”Weekend Update” (Meyers, Strong, Thompson, McKinnon) I get sadder every week because Meyers and Strong keep getting better and better with each other – this week the two actually broke down laughing at one point. Look, I’m sure Colin Jost will be fine – but there’s no way possible that “Update” won’t suffer, at least temporarily. Watching videos of Jost doing standup, he’s okay, but he seems nervous. No one is doubting his ability to be funny, but it’s going to take some time for him gain confidence as a performer, especially in contrast to a pro like Meyers.

 As solid as Meyers and Strong were last night, the individual segments were a mixed bag. Kenan Thompson as the police officer who arrested Justin Bieber was fine, if not forgettable. I like McKinnon’s Olya Povlatsky well enough, but I couldn’t stop thinking Why aren’t you playing Justin Bieber right now?!

 Score: 7.0

 ”The Hit” (Thompson, Pharoah, Killam) Three hitman get distracted by the snow. Eh, this was nice. And I thought Thompson, Pharoah and Killam all had a nice little chemistry working.

 Score: 6.8

 ”Cold Open: Men’s Figure Skating” (Killam, Strong, Moynihan, Pharoah, Bennett, McKinnon) The gist is that Vladimir Putin won’t allow gay athletes so the United States sends an all straight male figure skating team to the Olympics and they are predictably horrible. Honestly, the premise bugged me at first -- assumptions about the sexuality of male figure skaters and all -- but good gosh, Bobby Moynihan and Jay Pharoah won me over with their individual performances. If the actual Olympics featured Moynihan and Pharoah, I’d watch more male figure skating.

 Score: 6.5

 ”Spike Jonze Trailer” (Hill, Bayer, Cera) It’s a little surprising that “SNL” would film a parody of “Her” considering how few people have actually seen “Her.” It’s a solid enough parody – this time, our protagonist falls in love with himself; also, Michael Cera shows up – but a movie like this seems ripe for a bigger payoff than the one we got.

 Score: 6.0

 ”Couples Quiz” (Thompson, Hill, Strong, Killam, Zamata) Jonah Hill clogged the toilet. Okay, fine, I laughed. What do you want from me? I’m only human. SOMETIMES POOP JOKES CAN BE FUNNY!

 Score: 6.0

 The Bad

 ”Inside SoCal” (Bennett, Mooney, O’Brien, Wheelan, Killam, Hill, Moynihan) First, I do love that Tarn Killam said “Philomania” with Leonardo DiCaprio who accidentally invented that word at the Golden Globes lurking backstage. As for the sketch … I don’t know. Look, I like Bennett and Mooney’s particular brand of humor, but the kinda, sorta play the same guys every time they do these shorts. I mean, they are getting them on the air, which is important, so why would they stop? But I’d like to see them do something else other than these two guys. (Also, was that Ken Griffey Jr. Baseball for the Super Nintendo playing in the background?)

 Score: 5.0

 ”Benihana” (Hill, Bayer, Wells, Zamata, McKinnon, Pedrad) Seeing six-year-old Adam Grossman isn’t quite the same without Bill Hader’s sad dad sulking next to him. Anyway, I have no idea how this became a recurring sketch. (I once mentioned this sketch to Hill during an interview and he barked back something that at least seemed to be irritation, yet they keep happening. Anyway, who knows?) At least there’s an added inside joke this time with Benihana being a punchline in “The Wolf of Wall Street.”

 Score: 4.8

 ”Boss Dinner” (Hill, Bennett, McKinnon, Thompson, Bryant) I think Aidy Bryant got more screen time in Adam Scott’s “Bosom Buddies” recreation than she did on “SNL” last night. (Again, this cast is way too big.) Anyway, Jonah Hill screams a lot. That’s about all you need to know.

 Score: 3.0

 The Ugly

 ”Ranch” (Hill, Pedrad, Strong) “Hey, isn’t it funny when horses kick people?” “Yes, it was a laugh riot on ‘Mad Men’ … say, should we do a whole sketch about a horse that kicks people?” “Yes, yes we should.”

 (Mercifully, this sketch is not online because a Joni Mitchell song was briefly performed.)

 Score: 2.0

 Average Score for this Show: 5.73

 · Lady Gaga 6.06

 · Edward Norton 5.91

 · Paul Rudd 5.90

 · Drake 5.82

 · Jimmy Fallon 5.80

 · John Goodman 5.76

 · Josh Hutcherson 5.75

 · Jonah Hill 5.73

 · Bruce Willis 5.68

 · Kerry Washington 5.60

 · Tina Fey 5.35

 · Miley Cyrus 5.20

 Mike Ryan is senior writer for Huffington Post Entertainment. You can contact him directly on Twitter. Click below for this week's "SNL," Not Ready For Primetime Podcast featuring Mike Ryan and Hitfix's Ryan McGee.

 If you would like to subscribe to the podcast, you can do that here. ||||| Jonah Hill's star may have been on the rise as he hit Saturday Night Live for the third time as host last night, but his attempts to step out of Wolf of Wall Street co-star Leonardo DiCaprio's shadow went a bit awry during the opening monologue. After a series of DiCaprio-focused questions from the "audience" prompted a defensively boastful outburst from the host, DiCaprio himself appeared onstage to rein in Hill's fragile ego and admonish him for trying to act like a big shot. To sooth his nerves, Hill asked DiCaprio to do what the pair did every day on the Wolf of Wall Street set, "the thing that made me feel safe." Cue the Titanic pan pipes.

 See Where 'The Wolf of Wall Street' Ranks Among the 10 Best Movies of 2013

 The episode also included a reimagining of Spike Jonze's Her, with Jonah Hill romancing himself as the voice of his own operating system. As things heat up between the man and his voice, the operating system hires a surrogate, played by Michael Cera, to take things to the next level.

 Building on last week's brilliant portrayal of Justin Bieber, Weekend Update featured an interview with Kenan Thompson as the Miami police officer who arrested the pop star for drag racing under the influence on Thursday. The officer gleefully described the incident as being "like finding a swaggy little leprechaun," and compared Bieber's resistance to "being barked at by a puppy who smelled like Smirnoff Ice." Another sly reference to the arrest appeared in the sketch where Vanessa Bayer and Cecily Strong's ex-porn stars attempt to hawk yellow Lamborghinis. ||||| So maybe you're not too keen on the idea of falling in love with a completely artificial computer personality. Who could blame you? That's pretty weird. Maybe instead, the future will be a place where you can learn to love yourself. Wait, actually scratch that; that's super weird too.

 Jonah Hill and Michael Cera illustrate that hypothetical horror just perfectly. Warning: light spoilers. [SNL] |||||

Write a summary.

– Jonah Hill returned to Saturday Night Live last night with an opening monologue that attempted to separate from Wolf of Wall Street co-star Leo DiCaprio, and somehow ended with "the thing that made me feel safe"—both actors wrapped in a Titanic-esque embrace as that migraine-in-your-eye-inducing music played. That wasn't the show's only highlight, with Gizmodo hailing Hill's Her spoof—featuring Michael Cera—as simultaneously "hilarious" and "super weird." Rolling Stone notes that Justin Bieber's brush with the law got two mentions, with Kenan Thompson appearing on "Weekend Update" as the cop who arrested the Biebs, and Cecily Strong and Vanessa Bayer getting in a little yellow Lamborghini reference in a sketch called, well, "Lamborghini." Over at Huffington Post, Mike Ryan names "Lamborghini" the sketch of the night on his scorecard.


Summarize this article:

May 23, 2012 4:40 pm ET by Matt Gertz

 Right-wing news site The Daily Caller has come up with an innovative new method of attracting people to sign up for their email updates: Each week through Election Day new registrants will be eligible to win a free handgun. And not just any handgun; the weapon in question is "engraved with the Bill of Rights."

 The gun's manufacturer, Jim Pontillo, has attacked American progressives for supposedly seeking to promote communism in America and claimed that "people calling for secession" are not "fanatics who hate America" but are instead acting "in the Founding tradition."

 This ad is currently running on the website's NRA-sponsored "Guns and Gear" page:

 Clicking on the image diverts readers to the landing page for "The Daily Caller Gun Giveaway," which states:

 The Daily Caller will be giving away one gun per week until Election Day -- November 6, 2012. The FMK9C1 is an American-made high capacity 9mm designed by Jim Pontillo and manufactured in California. Each gun is engraved with the Bill of Rights and comes in one of three colors. To enter this week's contest, simply sign up below to receive updates from The Daily Caller. Our DC Morning emails are an informative and amusing way to keep up with the latest news.

 The FMK9C1 is produced by FMK Firearms. On the About FMK Firearms page on their website, founder Pontillo writes:

 For many American citizens who embrace a political philosophy which swings left, collectivism, socialism, and ultimately communism is the idealist utopia they aspire to capture and promulgate across America. For these people, For My Kountry, means to ridicule excellence, to fear prosperity, and to blame others for individual failures.

 It is an ideology which springs from mankind's weakest tenets...jealousy and envy. It is an ideology which attempts to tear all down to one low and "equal" or "fair" level. It is an ideology incapable of raising anyone or anything upward. Most of all, it is an ideology without any understanding of American culture or our American Founders' dream of creating a country free from government tyranny, open to individual initiative, and most important, insuring to all citizens those inalienable rights guaranteed to mankind by God.

 In a page on the website labeled "Our Charter," Pontillo claims that "Liberalism is changing America for the worse," claiming that progressive policies "have burdened Americans to depend on government instead of Church, God and community" and stating that "Separation of Church and State is a perversion of the 1st Amendment to take religious influence out of all government business when it was designed only to keep government influence out of religion."

 Pontillo continues:

 Firearm ownership magnifies and encourages all these admirable qualities of man. Firearm ownership also threatens the liberal philosophies which demand a dependent, despondent and surrendered people; explanation for the creative and far-fetched calisthenics endorsed by opponents of the 2nd Amendment.

 Pontillo's extreme right-wing rhetoric is not limited to his company's website. In columns posted at Human Events, Pontillo has written:

 "The simple fact of the matter is, the people calling for secession are not fanatics who hate America, they are middle classed working people who don't get benefits like food stamps and free health care, but are the ones paying for someone else's food stamps and someone else's health care. They say 'secede' because they are Americans in the Founding tradition." [Link]

 "For the Left, Founding principles aren't about Freedom or Liberty, Founding principles are about keeping slaves and maintaining an environment where minorities cannot rise in society; in the Left's convoluted thinking, patriotism is racism, and private gun ownership somehow threatens the minority's upward mobility." [Link]

 "I can't imagine how much more insult the American people are willing to endure under the 'enterprises of ambition' by our politicians, but I do know, gun ownership and an understanding of our American Founders' vision will have positive and deliberate effect on the psyche of our populace and can subdue the overzealous and prejudicial effect of this ambition. When law is abused to achieve political ends where do the gallant citizens turn? Quite possibly to their guns." [Link]

 The Caller launched their "Guns and Gear" section in December, stating that gun owners "are currently without the sort of daily news coverage that is allotted to most other American interests." The site largely reprints and repackages news releases, articles, and op-eds from National Rifle Association sources. The Caller has also followed the NRA in their relentless promotion of attacks on Attorney General Eric Holder regarding the failed ATF Operation Fast and Furious. ||||| Eligibility:

 This contest is open only to legal residents of the 50 United States where firearms are legally transferable. The winner must currently reside in the US and be 21 years of age or older at the time of entry. There is no purchase necessary to enter.

 The winner will be required to have proper identification suitable to receive a firearm in their jurisdiction and will be required to complete an ATF Form #4473 and pass a NICS background check at their local firearms retailer that holds a valid Federal Firearms License. Failure to comply with each of these requirements will result in a forfeiture of the prize. The winner will be responsible for any fees collected by the retailer to perform any background investigation or transfer fees. This offer is void where prohibited by law, and subject to all applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations.

 Winner Selection:

 The Daily Caller will choose one winner for each gun. If for any reason the winner is unable to accept the gun, the gun will be forfeited and an alternative winner will be determined. No prize transfers, assignments, cash equivalents or substitutions will be allowed.

 Notification and Awarding of Gun:

 The winner will be notified within 14 business days after the close of the drawing by email, mail or telephone and must respond to The Daily Caller within 14 days. If the winner cannot be contacted, is ineligible, fails to respond or fails to claim the prize the prize will be forfeited and an alternate winner will be selected.

 The winner, except where prohibited by law, grants The Daily Caller the right to use the winner’s name, image, voice or video for advertising and promotional purposes without additional compensation or permission.

 Transfer of Firearm:

 The Daily Caller is not responsible for the transfer of the firearm. The firearm will be sent from FMK Firearms to the winner’s designated FFL holder. It is the responsibility of the winner to have the FFL holder fax, email, or otherwise transfer a copy of the FFL to FMK Firearms. FMK firearms will then ship the gun to the FFL holder. The winner is then responsible to complete the transaction with the FFL holder. Instructions will be provided to the winner upon acknowledgement of notification from The Daily Caller.

 Disqualification:

 The Daily Caller reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to disqualify any individual it finds to be tampering with the raffle or web site; to be acting in violation of the Official Rules; to be acting in violation of the terms of use of the web site by cheating, hacking, deception or other unfair playing practices (including the use of automated entry programs), or to be acting in a non-sportsmanlike or disruptive manner, or with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass The Daily Caller, FMK or any other person.

 Liability:

 By entering this sweepstakes or accepting the prize, all participants release, indemnify and hold harmless, including costs and attorneys’ fees, The Daily Caller, Inc., its affiliates, successors and their respective shareholders, directors, officers and employees, one and all, from all actions and liability (including attorney’s fees and costs) due to injury, loss or damage to person or property, including death, caused in whole or in part, directly or indirectly from the use, misuse, acceptance or possession of the prize, or participation in this giveaway. Prize winner waives the right 1) to assert as a cost of winning the prize any and all costs of verification and redemption or travel to redeem said prize, and 2) to any liability claim which might arise from redeeming or seeking to redeem said prize. Sponsor (i) makes no warranty, guarantee or representation of any kind concerning any prize; and (ii) disclaims any implied warranty. If any provision of this Sweepstakes shall be deemed to violate any federal, state or municipal law, it shall be amended to conform to such law and all other provisions shall remain in full force and effect.

 CAUTION: ANY ATTEMPT BY AN ENTRANT OR ANY OTHER PERSON TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE THE WEB SITE OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE CONTEST MAY BE IN VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS AND SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, SPONSOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK REMEDIES AND DAMAGES (INCLUDING ATTORNEYS’ FEES) FROM ANY SUCH ENTRANT OR PERSON TO THE FULLEST EXTENT OF THE LAW, INCLUDING SEEKING CRIMINAL PROSECUTION.

 Neither The Daily Caller nor prize suppliers, shall be responsible for technical, pictorial, typographical or editorial errors or omissions in any marketing materials or these Official Rules.

 Entrant agrees that any and all disputes, claims, and causes of action arising out of or connected with this contest or any prizes awarded and all issues and questions concerning the validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules shall be subject to the laws of the State of Delaware and shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action, and exclusively in a court of competent jurisdiction in Delaware. Any and all claims, judgments and awards shall be limited to actual out-of-pocket costs incurred, including costs associated with entering this contest and never shall include consequential, incidental or punitive damages, and in no event attorneys’ fees. Some jurisdictions do not allow the limitation or exclusion of liability for incidental or consequential damages, so the above may not apply to you

 This contest is sponsored solely by The Daily Caller, Inc., (“Sponsor”). Sponsor reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to discontinue this contest or modify these Official Rules without prior notification. Any such changes will be available at www.dailycaller.com. |||||

– You can't make this stuff up: The Daily Caller is giving away handguns engraved with the Bill of Rights. To enter to win a gun, just sign up for one of the right-wing news site's four email newsletters; it's giving away one gun per week until Election Day. (Note: Winners will have to pass a background check.) Media Matters spotted the contest, and notes that the Caller first launched a Guns and Gear news section in December, concerned that gun owners "are currently without the sort of daily news coverage that is allotted to most other American interests."


× Community leaders to call on judge to issue arrest warrants in Tamir Rice case

 CLEVELAND– Cleveland community leaders will not wait for prosecutors to decide whether or not murder charges should be filed in the Tamir Rice case. They will go straight to a judge.

 According to a press release, a group of civil rights leaders, activists, and clergy will hold a press conference Tuesday morning to announce they are filing a number of citizens’ affidavits for probable cause in the 12-year-old’s death. The release states that the affidavits will call on a judge to issue arrest warrants for the two officers involved.

 Police shot and killed Tamir Rice last November. They received a call about a male pointing a gun at people outside the Cudell Recreation Center. Investigators found he had an airsoft pistol that looked like a powerful handgun.

 Rev. Dr. Jawanza Colvin, pastor of Olivet Institutional Baptist Church, said in the release:

 “We are still waiting for the criminal justice system to enact justice in the name of Tamir Rice. It has been more than six months since his tragic death and, yet, the people still have no answers and no one has been held accountable. Today, citizens are taking matters into their own hands utilizing the tools of democracy as an instrument of justice.”

 In response, Steve Loomis, President of the Cleveland Police Patrolmen’s Association, released the following statement to the FOX 8 I-Team:

 “Talk about a grandstand of vigilantism. This is yet another attempt to totally disrespect and disregard our justice system. The same ambulance chasing attorneys that demanded a “transparent investigation from an outside agency be completed”, and that the facts of that investigation “be presented to the Grand Jury”, have now changed their minds. These same folks now want to bypass not only the independent investigation they demanded, but the grand jury system as well. While those with agendas continue to disregard evidence, rules of law, and fact, in lieu of the self serving, emotional and fictitious claims, the Ferguson Effect continues to grow. The unfortunate and unintended result we be that those that need us the most will be made to suffer from increasing lawlessness of an emboldened criminal element. The continued attacks on police officers and our justice system will only serve to increase the “Ferguson Effect” among police officers. While these ambulance chasers continue to demand police officers be “held accountable” for their actions they are seemingly never content with that accountability. They also NEVER hold the involved suspects accountable for their actions and continue to ignore the generational and decades old issues that continue to degrade and plague our society. It continues to amaze me that while police involved shootings represent less than 1% of ALL shootings nationwide, they represent nearly 90% of the story line of national, state, and local media coverage. The vast and mostly silent majority of law abiding, God fearing citizens are sick of these attacks on police officers and support the very difficult and absolutely necessary jobs we do.”

 Stay with fox8.com for LIVE coverage of Tuesday’s press conference.

 Continuing coverage of the shooting of Tamir Rice here. ||||| CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A group of community leaders, clergy and civil rights activists on Tuesday plan to announce they've filed affidavits seeking charges against two Cleveland police officers involved in the killing of 12-year-old Tamir Rice.

 The group, which includes the rev. Jawanza Colvin from Olivet Institutional Baptist Church and Case Western Reserve University professor Rhonda Williams, will hold an 11 a.m. press conference to announce the filing.

 The group plans to file several affidavits under a rarely used state law asking a Cleveland Municipal Court judge to find probable cause to issue arrest warrants for Cleveland police officers Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback in connection with the Nov. 22 shooting outside Cudell Recreation Center.

 * Related: Cleveland police union head blasts group's plan to seek charges

 The law, passed in 1960, allows any person with knowledge of the facts of a case to file sworn affidavits asking a judge to find probable cause to sign off an arrest warrant.

 "We are still waiting for the criminal justice system to enact justice in the name of Tamir Rice. It has been more than six months since his tragic death and, yet, the people still have no answers and no one has been held accountable," Colvin said in a Tuesday press release. "Today, citizens are taking matters into their own hands utilizing the tools of democracy as an instrument of justice."

 The case currently rests in the hands of the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office, which will present the evidence to a grand jury -- a process that could take weeks.

 By invoking the state law, the group hopes to bypass that process and secure swift arrests on charges that include aggravated murder and manslaughter.

 If the group succeeds, the case would still end up before a grand jury, as guaranteed by Ohio's constitution.

 County Prosecutor Timothy J. McGinty used the grand jury process in connection with the November 2012 high-speed police chase that ended with 13 officers firing 137 shots at Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams, who were unarmed.

 Russell and Williams were killed, and police officer Michael Brelo was indicted on two counts of voluntary manslaughter. Judge John O'Donnell found Brelo not guilty May 23, touching off a day of tense demonstrations that ended with 71 protesters arrested.

 Late Monday, McGinty's office issued a statement in response to a New York Times report about the group's plans.

 "Once the investigation is complete -- and in the death of Tamir Rice, it is not at this time -- all evidence and expert analysis will be presented to the Grand Jury," McGinty's spokesman, Joe Frolik, said. "The Grand Jury in Cuyahoga County, by the policy of the County Prosecutor's Office, ultimately makes the charging decision in all fatal use of deadly force cases that involve law enforcement officers."

 Frolik said his office plans to release the contents of the Tamir Rice investigation "fairly soon," once medical and personal information is redacted. |||||

Write a summary.

– It has been more than six months since a rookie cop shot a 12-year-old boy to death in Cleveland—and community leaders are tired of waiting for prosecutors to act. They plan to use a little-known and little-used Ohio law to go directly to a judge to have the officers involved arrested for the murder of Tamir Rice, the New York Times reports. The leaders plan to bypass police and prosecutors by filing citizens' affidavits today. "Here we are taking some control of the process as citizens," Walter Madison, a lawyer for the Rice family, tells the Times. "We are going to participate without even changing the law," he adds, noting that similar cases that went to grand juries ended up "unfavorable to the families." Community leaders say that there's a conflict of interest in officer-involved shooting cases because cops work closely with prosecutors, the Times notes, but authorities say the Rice case will end up before a grand jury even if there is an arrest. A spokesman for the prosecutor tells Cleveland.com that the grand jury "ultimately makes the charging decision in all fatal use of deadly force cases that involve law enforcement officers." In a statement to Fox 8, the chief of the Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association called the move an "attempt to totally disrespect and disregard our justice system" and warned such efforts would worsen the "increasing lawlessness of an emboldened criminal element." (Ex-cop Michael Slager was indicted yesterday in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man.)