Gov. Rick Scott and top state lawmakers proposed on Friday the most significant move toward gun control in Florida in decades, backing new limits that defy the National Rifle Association but fall short of demands from survivors of last week’s school shooting.

 Faced with massive protests, the Republican governor announced a plan to raise the minimum age to buy any firearm, including semiautomatic rifles, from 18 to 21. Mr. Scott also vowed to strengthen rules to keep weapons away from people who have mental health problems or injunctions against them for stalking or domestic violence.

 “I want to make it virtually impossible for anyone who has mental issues to use a gun,” said Mr. Scott, who is widely expected to run for a United States Senate seat this year. “I want to make it virtually impossible for anyone who is a danger to themselves or others to use a gun.”

 Student protesters who rallied at the State Capitol on Wednesday had demanded a complete ban on military-style assault rifles. On Friday, students said they were disappointed, if unsurprised, that Mr. Scott had stopped short of a ban, but vowed to keep pushing for one. ||||| (CNN) A week after one of the deadliest mass shootings in modern US history, Florida Gov. Rick Scott announced a comprehensive plan to keep students safe in his state, including suggestions to raise the minimum age to buy a gun, keep weapons out of the hands of the mentally ill and ban the sale of bump stocks.

 A former student fatally shot 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland on February 14, sparking renewed and heated debate over the middle point between Second Amendment rights and student safety.

 "We must take care of our kids," Scott, a Republican, said at a news conference announcing his three-part plan.

 Kai Koerber, a student at Stoneman Douglas who was there the day of the shooting, called the plan "a step in the right direction."

 "This is not the end of the line, but we thank Governor Scott for hearing our concerns, and taking steps to secure a better future for the sons and daughters of tomorrow," he said.

 JUST WATCHED Rick Scott details Florida gun law changes Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Rick Scott details Florida gun law changes 03:44

 The governor also called for tougher background checks and waiting periods to buy firearms; requiring mentally ill people who have been involuntarily committed to temporarily surrender weapons; and the allocation of hundreds of millions of dollars toward improving security in schools and mental health services.

 "Keeping guns away from dangerous people and people with mental issues is what we need to do," he said.

 "No one with mental issues should have access to guns. It's common sense, and it is in their own best interest -- not to mention the interests of our communities. And much of what I'm proposing involves giving law enforcement the ability to stop people from harming themselves and others, while giving them the tools to keep our schools safe."

 Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel, a Democrat who was re-elected in 2016, was pleased with the news.

 "Thank you Gov. Scott and state legislative leaders for proposing a gun and school safety package that incorporates nearly all the ideas (Broward Sheriff's Office) and other sheriffs suggested. This is a strong first step in giving us the proactive ability to keep Florida safer," his office tweeted from its verified account . The targeted high school is in Broward County.

 Other Democrats don't think the proposals would go far enough.

 "We can beef up mental health screenings, raise the age for gun purchases and dream up other stop-gap measures, but the threat to our children and our citizens will continue until we finally take bold action to ban assault weapons designed for the battlefield from easy access in our communities," Florida Senate Democratic Leader Oscar Braynon said, referring to semiautomatic, assault-style rifles like the AR-15 the shooter at Stoneman Douglas used.

 Scott, who noted that he is a member of the National Rife Association, said he's not calling for a ban on all firearms.

 "I know there are some who are advocating a mass takeaway of Second Amendment rights for all Americans. That is not the answer."

 In response to questions about calls for a ban on AR-15-style rifles and other semiautomatic guns, the governor said that "banning specific weapons and punishing law abiding citizens is not going to fix this. What we have to do is we have to really focus on the problem. We've got to take all weapons away from people with mental illness, people who are threatening themselves or threatening others."

 Part 1: Keep guns away from dangerous people

 Scott said the plan will address strengthening gun laws to keep "guns away from dangerous and violent people."

 -- Part of that includes creating a "Violent Threat Restraining Order," which permits a court "to prohibit a violent or mentally ill person from purchasing or possessing a firearm when either a family member, community welfare expert or law enforcement officer" presents evidence to the court of a threat of firearms violence.

 JUST WATCHED Student's warning to Gov. Scott at the polls Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Student's warning to Gov. Scott at the polls 01:26

 -- It calls for strengthening "gun purchase and possession restrictions for mentally ill individuals under the Baker Act. If a court involuntarily commits someone for treatment under the Baker Act because they are at risk of harming themselves or others, an individual would be required to surrender all firearms and not regain their right to purchase or possess a firearm until a court hearing."

 -- People who "are subject to an injunction for protection against stalking, cyberstalking, dating violence, repeat violence, sexual violence, or domestic violence" would be prohibited from possessing or buying a firearm.

 -- Enhanced criminal penalties should be created for threats to schools, including "social media threats of shootings or bombings." It also calls for enhanching "penalties if any person possesses or purchases a gun after they have been deemed by state law to not have access to a gun."

 -- Exceptions on the age for firearms purchasing include active duty and reserve military and spouses, National Guard members, and law enforcement.

 Scott said he disagrees with the notion of arming educators, saying teachers should teach and police should police.

 "My focus is on bringing in law enforcement. I think you need to have individuals that are trained, well-trained. My focus is let law enforcement do the keeping us safe and let teachers focus on teaching."

 Part 2: Keeping students safe

 Scott proposed a $450 million initiative for student safety, calling for the presence of a resource officer in every public school and giving sheriffs' departments the power "to train additional school personnel or reserve law enforcement officers" if local school boards ask.

 JUST WATCHED Florida high school to reopen after massacre Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Florida high school to reopen after massacre 01:36

 The plan requires "mandatory active shooter training" and says faculty and students must be involved in "active shooter drills." It calls for an increase in funding for safe school infrastructure, such as metal detectors, steel doors and upgraded locks.

 Scott called for an anonymous K-12 "See Something, Say Something" hotline, website and mobile app, funding "to require access to dedicated mental health counselors to provide direct counseling services," the creation of "threat assessment" teams at each school, and "crisis intervention training for all school personnel."

 Part 3: Expand mental health initiatives

 The plan outlines a $50 million allocation for mental health initiatives, including the expansion of mental health service teams, a Department of Children and Families case manager embedded in every sheriff's department, and matching grants for sheriff's offices to set up special law enforcement teams to work with DCF case managers.

 "There is nothing more important than the safety of our children. Our kids deserve nothing less. Fortunately, our economy is booming, and we have the resources to protect our schools and our students. And, if providing this funding means we won't be able to cut taxes this year -- so be it. And, if we have to give up some of the projects we all hold near and dear -- so be it," the governor said.

 Stoneman Douglas students speak up

 Koerber wasn't pleased with the proposal to give sheriffs' departments the authority to train "additional school personnel" if local school boards request it:

 "Gov. Scott's Action Plan proposes the arming of teachers, if that is the wish of the district. In no way do I, or any of my friends, feel that the arming of teachers is a solution to the issue of gun violence in schools.

 "Nonetheless, we are very happy to see the implementation of a gold standard age for the purchase of firearms, as well as the placement of more law enforcement officers based on the population of a school campus."

 JUST WATCHED Survivor: I'm terrified to return to school Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Survivor: I'm terrified to return to school 00:45

 Kyle Kashuv said he is "a bit concerned over the infringement of Second Amendment rights," a reference to the requirement that people be 21 or over to buy firearms.

 "When you are 18 you are legally tried as an adult yet you are not considered mentally fit for a weapon."

 But he favors other aspects on the plan, including the waiting period for background checks, extra school resource officers, mental health funding, the hotline and school building improvements.

 "I think mental health and background checks are necessary," he said, adding that he also understands why the bump stock ban is necessary.

 Isabella Pfeiffer seemed surprised to hear the governor's proposal. She left a meeting with Scott on Wednesday feeling a bit defeated. She said she didn't think he was actually listening to the students.

 But she is a fan of most of the ideas presented Friday.

 "We were super happy to see they were considering raising the age to 21 to own a rifle, I think that was one of the points we advocated for the most," she said. ||||| Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings.

 / Updated By Elizabeth Chuck and Corky Siemaszko

 President Donald Trump has proposed a solution to end classroom massacres once and for all: Arm some of America's teachers with concealed weapons, and train them to "immediately fire back if a savage sicko came to a school with bad intentions," he said Thursday.

 But gun violence experts, educators, and school safety advocates immediately panned the idea.

 "It's a crazy proposal," said Dr. David Hemenway, a professor of health policy at Harvard School of Public Health and an expert on the public health impact of gun violence. Chuckling, he added, "So what should we do about reducing airline hijacking? Give all the passengers guns as they walk on?"

 Avery Gardiner, co-president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, called it a "colossally stupid idea."

 Related: NRA's Wayne LaPierre accuses Democrats of exploiting Parkland tragedy

 "If having more guns in more places made Americans safer, then we would have the lowest rates of gun violence in any developed country in the world, and the exact opposite is true," she said, calling the notion that "the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun" a myth.

 "So what should we do about reducing airline hijacking? Give all the passengers guns as they walk on?"

 "There could be instances of real confusion that would lead to tragedy if we had more guns in more classrooms," Gardiner said. "What about the time the teacher accidentally leaves the gun unlocked in the desk drawer, and it's picked up by a student? Think about the burden on schools to make sure the teachers are safe to carry guns. Who's doing that checking and monitoring and retraining?"

 Statistics show that states with stricter gun laws and fewer guns have less overall gun violence than those with more lax laws and more guns. Hemenway, who has done extensive research on guns, said it boils down to access to weapons.

 "The evidence is overwhelming, starting at the home. A gun in the home increases the risk that people in the home will die. That's because there's more suicides, more gun accidents, and more homicides," he said.

 Related: How the internet's conspiracy theorists turned Parkland students into 'crisis actors'

 The experts added that even with proper firearms training, to expect a teacher to be able to shoot down an attacker — and not accidentally injure anyone else — is unrealistic.

 "To be trained is not just about shooting. Your heart is beating like crazy, your adrenaline is all over your body, and you have to make a wise decision about what to do," Hemenway said.

 Brian Levin, a former officer with the New York Police Department, said in the heat of the moment, it's too easy to misfire. He recalled a time early in his career when he almost shot an unarmed man fleeing a shooting scene.

 "Often times when you’re having an adrenaline-filled situation, you’re not sure who the target is," said Levin, who is now a criminal justice professor at California State University, San Bernardino.

 Dr. Amy Klinger, director of programs and co-founder of the Educator's School Safety Network, a nonprofit that supports safer schools, said she found it "ironic and sad" that the only training being discussed for teachers is weapons training.

 "How about training in violence prevention, or all of the other threats that schools face, like severe weather, noncustodial parent fights, and bus accidents?" she asked. "I'm thrilled that the president is having this conversation about school safety. But I'm concerned that we're not looking at the really effective options first."

 Not everyone is opposed to arming schoolteachers: In a Washington Post-ABC News poll out this week, 42 percent of Americans said allowing teachers to carry guns could have deterred the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, last week.

 And after the Sandy Hook shooting, about 200 teachers in Utah partook in a free gun training course, led by firearm activists who argued that armed teachers could thwart shooting rampages in their schools. Hundreds more in Butler County, Ohio, signed up for a similar class after the Parkland shooting.

 Cori Sorensen, a fourth grade teacher from Highland Elementary School in Highland, Utah, receives firearms training with a .357 magnum from personal defense instructor Jim McCarthy in West Valley City, Utah on In this Dec. 27, 2012. Rick Bowmer / AP file

 But many prominent figures in education are slamming the idea.

 "Educators need to be focused on teaching our students. We need solutions that will keep guns out of the hands of those who want to use them to massacre innocent children and educators. Arming teachers does nothing to prevent that," said Lily Eskelsen Garcia, president of the National Education Association, which represents 3 million educators in the U.S.

 Related: How the Parkland students became advocates for gun reform

 Even pro-gun educators don't necessarily support Trump's plan. Dr. Joshua Grubbs, an assistant professor of clinical psychology at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, owns multiple guns — but said he couldn't imagine bringing them to class.

 "Even under the most ideal conditions, shooting with a handgun is extremely hard. Practically speaking, on a range with ear protection on, at complete peace, that's hard and takes a lot of skills," he said.

 More importantly, he said, bringing a gun into class creates an adversarial dynamic.

 "You're asking teachers, instead of seeing the best in students, to constantly be on guard for a student that might be a threat," Grubbs said. "It's no longer a safe place for you to learn. It puts the teacher more in a law enforcement role. You relate differently to a teacher than you do to a police officer — and you should relate differently."

 Guys, I’m a college professor.

 I’ve also been shooting guns my entire life and own multiple guns now.

 I don’t trust myself to be able to capably defend a classroom against a shooter, and I’m a good shot.

 Why would we expect teachers everywhere to bear this responsibility? — Josh Grubbs (@JoshuaGrubbsPhD) February 21, 2018

 In response to questions from reporters about whether it would be practical to arm 700,000 teachers, as Trump has suggested, White House Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah responded on Thursday afternoon: "I think when you have a horrific situation like you had last week, and some other school shootings that we’ve seen, these horrible tragedies, what we think and don’t think is practical can change."

 Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter Jaime was killed in the Parkland shooting, told MSNBC on Thursday that the massacre would have been much worse had teachers been armed.

 "You had pandemonium, you had kids running all over, teachers running all over. Everyone was trying to get to a safe place," Guttenberg said. "You would’ve had a shootout, with all these kids and people running all over. That would not have saved lives. It would have led to further loss of life." ||||| Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings.

 / Updated By Corky Siemaszko

 Florida Gov. Rick Scott broke with President Donald Trump on Friday and rejected calls to arm teachers with guns to prevent school massacres.

 "I disagree with arming teachers," Scott said. "My focus is on bringing in law enforcement. I think you need to have individuals who are trained, well trained."

 Scott also defied the National Rifle Association by unveiling a sweeping plan to boost school security that would bar "violent or mentally ill" people from purchasing weapons, prohibit persons under the age of 21 from buying or owning guns, and outlaw so-called bump stocks that make it possible for semi-automatic weapons to fire faster.

 “I want to make it virtually impossible for anyone who has mental issues to use a gun,” Scott said. “I want to make it virtually impossible for anyone who is a danger to themselves or others to use a gun.”

 But the Republican governor, who is believed to be eyeing a Senate run, declined to ban the semi-automatic AR-15 type rifle that Nikolas Cruz allegedly used to killed 17 people on Valentine's Day at the high school in Parkland, Florida.

 That was a key demand of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students who survived the shooting.

 "Banning specific weapons is not going to fix this," said Scott.

 An NRA member, Scott said he didn't consult the powerful gun lobby about his proposals. But it appears to be a sharp break with the organization that has 300,000 members in Florida, and that Scott has relied on in the past.

 There was no immediate response to Scott's move from the NRA headquarters. But its chief lobbyist in Florida, Marion Hammer, called it "gratuitous gun control."

 "We oppose punishing law-abiding gun owners," Hammer told the Tampa Bay Times.

 Scott also called for spending $450 million to put a law enforcement officer in every school (one for every 1,000 students), hiring mental health professionals whose only job would be counseling students, and upgrading school security with metal detectors, bulletproof glass, reinforced doors and other measures.

 Florida Governor Rick Scott lays out his school safety proposal during a press conference at the Florida Capitol in Tallahassee, Florida on Feb 23, 2018. Scott proposed banning the sale of firearms to anyone younger than 21 as part of a plan to prevent gun violence. Mark Wallheiser / AP

 The governor's plan calls for a new "see something, say something" hotline, website and mobile app. And to help pay for it, Scott said he is considering abandoning more than $180 million in planned tax cuts and urged lawmakers to temporarily shelve plans for pursue money for hometown projects.

 Scott's announcement came a day after Trump expressed support for arming teachers — an idea that many critics are calling a "colossally stupid idea."

 Also, Scott's move to keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill appears to be an about face for the governor, who signed a bill in 2011 that barred doctors from asking patients whether they own a gun, unless the provider "believes that this information is relevant to the patient's medical care or safety, or the safety of others."

 A Florida federal appeals court in February 2017 ruled that some of the provisions were unconstitutional, including the part that prevented health providers from asking whether patients owned guns.

 Trump in February 2017 rolled back an Obama-era regulation that made it harder for people with mental illnesses to purchase a gun.

 While making his announcement, Scott took a swipe at Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., accusing him of not doing enough to combat gun violence. Nelson quickly swiped back.

 "The governor’s plan doesn’t do one thing to ensure comprehensive criminal background checks or ban assault rifles, like the AR-15," Nelson said in a statement. "His leadership is weak and by recommending raising the age to 21 he is doing the bare minimum. Enough is enough. We need to get these assault rifles off our streets and expand criminal background checks for anyone acquiring a gun.”

 The developments came on the heels of revelations that Scot Peterson, the Broward County sheriff's deputy assigned to protect Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, never went inside the school or tried to stop the accused 19-year-old gunman.

 CORRECTION (Feb. 23, 2018, 1:25 p.m. ET): An earlier version of this article misstated the first name of a Democratic Florida senator. He is Bill Nelson, not Ben. ||||| But the movement for hardening isn’t just impractical or lacking in evidentiary support; it’s also a dystopian stroke of authoritarianism that runs deeply counter to the ideas embodied in the Constitution. Increasingly militarized school resource officers don’t just passively wait for mass shootings; they have daily encounters with students that appear to be increasing in frequency. Brutality is endemic. Mother Jones chronicled 28 serious student injuries and one death from 2010 to 2015 in such encounters. The brunt of those brutal incidents and arrests falls on black students, and high-profile incidents of officers kicking students, choking them, handcuffing third-graders, and slamming students to the ground are all too common.

 While most teachers are fiercely dedicated to their students, steady reports of abuse from some teachers, as well as reports of racial slurs and racial bias, should be strong reasons to be skeptical of arming teachers. Especially in the often-fraught environments of under-resourced classrooms, it’s probably not a good idea to have anybody with a gun present.

 More broadly, hardening proposals posit that the only way to keep kids safe is to raise them in police states, kept under guard by killer drones, assault rifles, and armed teachers. As Coaston writes, these setups will almost certainly tend towards gross violations of students’ First Amendment rights to speech and Fourth Amendment rights to privacy, and will do so along already-established lines of race and class. As a person who attended a school where violence by resource officers was a fact of life for low-income black students, I can offer at least anecdotal support for this argument.

 But hardening proposals also exhibit a circular logic that runs deeply counter to the spirit of the Second Amendment. Again, that provision implies a duty to resist tyranny, in all the forms of military, surveillance, and governmental overreach that helped spark the revolution. Suggestions to create a police state in American schools, however, mirror other pro-authoritarian tendencies that run counter to this instinct. In the creation of the carceral state, in the expansion of drug laws, and in the extreme militarization of police in recent years, people have argued that placing more guns in the hands of authorities is the only way to keep people safe. But why would pro-Second Amendment enthusiasts be in favor of providing more firepower to the government?

 One legal theory used to oppose the preferences of many defenders of the Second Amendment is based on the fact that the militarized American police state has advanced far beyond the ability of any possible well-regulated militia to stop it. But lost in that observation is the fact that Americans—many of them staunch gun-rights advocates—have pushed repeatedly to bolster the military and the creep of militarism into other civic arenas. They’ve then trapped the country in an arms race between government and civilians, one in which civilians face severe losses from both state and private violence. And now students, protected in schools by the most basic tenets of the social contract, find themselves in the line of fire. |||||
What is a one-paragraph summary of the above article?

– Just over a week after the murder of 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Florida Gov. Rick Scott unveiled a plan Friday to keep his state's students safer: a $500 million proposal to ban bump stocks, restrict people under age 21 from purchasing guns, and prohibit the "violent or mentally ill" from buying weapons, NBC News reports. "I want to make it virtually impossible for anyone who is a danger to themselves or others to use a gun," Scott said, per the New York Times. The age restriction would mark Scott's first big rebuff of NRA policy, per the Washington Post. "I'm an NRA member (and) a supporter of the Second Amendment," Scott said. "I'm also a father and a grandfather and a governor. We all have a difficult task in front of us balancing our individual rights with our obvious need for public safety." Among the initiatives included in Scott's plan are revamping building security to include metal detectors, better locks, and bulletproof glass; placing a "law enforcement officer in every public school"; and working more on "mental health initiatives." What Scott isn't pushing for: banning the AR-15 rifle, which was the type of weapon used in the shooting, and arming teachers, as President Trump and others have called for (to much criticism) in recent days. "Banning specific weapons … is not going to fix this," Scott said. He also said he'd rather see "well-trained" members of law enforcement brought in to protect schools than hand weapons to educators. "We must take care of our kids," he said, per CNN. On Wednesday, the NRA said it will fight any attempt to raise age limits, saying that move would "[punish] law-abiding citizens for the evil acts of criminals."


Write a summary based on this article:

A female teenager was killed Friday night when she was ejected from a spinning carnival ride at an El Paso, Texas, church, local police have confirmed.

 Another female teenager, who also was ejected from "The Sizzler" ride at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church, sustained injuries and was rushed to a local hospital.

 A third female teenager, who was not ejected from the ride, was treated at the scene but did not sustain any injuries, El Paso Police Department Sgt. Enrique Carrillo told ABC News.

 The hospitalized teen's condition is unknown.

 CAP responding to St Thomas Aquinas Church 10900 Bywood carnival ride injuries — EL PASO POLICE DEPT (@EPPOLICE) April 30, 2016

 The ride was part of the church's Dia De Los Niños Fiesta festivities.

 At a press conference Friday night, Sgt. Carrillo said the three females are between the ages of 15 and 18.

 Sgt. Carrillo said the accident remains under investigation, and its cause remains to be determined. ||||| Copyright 2016 Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

 UPDATE: Authorities have yet to confirm the identity of the 16-year-old girl who was killed at the St. Thomas Aquinas carnival last night, but friends News Channel 9 spoke with on Saturday say the girl who died was Sam Aguilar. Friends say she was a sweet, nice girl who lived life to the fullest. They say she played softball and track at Hanks High School

 El Paso Police say one teen is dead following a carnival ride accident at an East El Paso Church. An EPPD spokesperson confirmed that a 16-year old girl was killed in the accident, and another was injured.

 The accident happened Friday evening at a Dia De Los Niños carnival at St. Thomas Aquinas Church located at 10900 Bywood. They say the accident happened on the ride known as the "Sizzler."

 Sgt. Enrique Carillo says the girl was taken to Del Sol Medical Center where she later died. The second teen was taken to University Medical Center with what appear to be non-life threatening injuries.

 Authorities say three girls were on the ride when two were ejected. According to the aunt of the girl who was not ejected, the three had told the ride operator that the seat belt wouldn't buckle. According to the aunt, the operator told the girls that they were OK. That women also told NewsChannel 9 that only two people were suppose to be inside the ride at a time. She says her niece was holding on to the seat belt for her life.

 The El Paso Police Department's Crime Against Persons unit has been called in to the scene. They say this is all still under investigation.

 Go Fund me: https://www.gofundme.com/27ptktvw

 We will bring you more information as it becomes available. ||||| Police said a teenage girl died after being thrown from The Sizzler ride at the St. Thomas Aquinas church carnival.

 A teenage girl died at Del Sol Medical Center after being thrown from The Sizzler ride at the St. Thomas Aquinas Church carnival in east El Paso, police said.

 Two other teenagers were in the ride when the incident happened. One was taken to University Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries and the third teenager was not injured, police said.

 Spokeswoman for the El Paso Catholic Diocese Elizabeth O'Hara said the teenager who died was ejected and hit a metal barricade.

 The church was having its Dia De Los Niños Fiesta on Friday night.

 The El Paso Police Department tweeted about the incident just after 8:30 p.m.

 The father of the girl who was not injured tells reporter Meghan Lopez that the girls go to Hanks High School. He said the teenagers were the only ones on the ride and his daughter did not get ejected from the ride because she hooked her arms on the handle bar and held on.

 The Sizzler is a ride that spins people around a center point but also spins them in their seats.

 The company in charge of the carnival rides is Playtime Amusements Inc. Police say the carnivals are regulated by state statutes.

 "There's inspections that are required, whether or not this vendor has been up to par with that hasn't been determined. That'll be revealed in the investigation," said El Paso Police spokesman Sgt. Enrique Carrillo.

 Crimes against persons is investigating the accident, police said.

 In August 2014, two El Paso teenagers were also injured when they fell off a mechanical ride at the St. Anthony Bazaar. The company used in the St. Anthony Bazaar incident was not the same one used in Friday night's carnival at St. Thomas Aquinas, according to O'Hara.

 In a 2005 article by the Associated Press, the manufacturer of the ride says there are about 200 Sizzlers operating in the United States.

  |||||

– A 16-year-old girl died Friday after being thrown from a carnival ride at a church festival in El Paso, Texas, the El Paso Times reports. According to ABC News, three teen girls were aboard the Sizzler when something went wrong. Two of the girls were flung from the ride; the third managed to stay on by hooking her arms around a handle bar, her father tells KFOX. The 16-year-old hit a metal barricade after being ejected from the ride and died at the hospital. The second teen who was thrown from the ride was also hospitalized with unspecified injuries. The festival was being held at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in celebration of Dia De Los Niños. The three girls were the only ones on the ride at the time of the accident. An investigation into the incident is ongoing, and it's unclear what caused the teens to be thrown from the ride. "There's inspections that are required, whether or not this vendor has been up to par with that hasn't been determined," a police spokesperson tells KFOX. But the aunt of the girl who wasn't thrown from the Sizzler tells KTSM the teens complained to the ride operator that their seat belt wouldn't buckle. She says he told them it would be OK. In 2005, there were approximately 200 Sizzlers—which spin around a central point while also spinning riders in their seats—in the US. The ride has previously been responsible for deaths in Arkansas, Colorado, and elsewhere.


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 Expert: Summer gold rush could be the best in 20 years | Share

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 A geologist and gold mining expert said this year’s summer gold rush is expected to be the best in two decades. Advertisement

 WEBVTT MAX: WE'RE GOING TO BE ONTRAVERSE CREEK, AND THIS IS AWELL-KNOWN AREA TO FIND GOLD.AND AFTER MONTHS OF RAIN ANDSUBSEQUENT FLOODING, THIS WOULDHAVE BEEN THE PLACE TO BE FOR ANEASY SCORE.>> YOU CAN PICK UP, LITERALLYPICK UP, SMALL NUGGETS OF GOLDRIGHT AFTER THE FLOODING.MAX: THOSE AREAS ARE NOW GONE,PICKED OVER BY GOLD PANNERS KEENON THE BEST TIME TO FIND THEMINERAL, BUT THAT DOESN'T MEANYOUR CHANCES AT TREASURE THISYEAR ARE GONE.>> AS FAR GOLD, THE DEPOSITS OFGOLD, THIS IS GOING TO RIVAL ANDCOME CLOSE TO 1997, THE FLOOD OF1997.MAX: COME SUMMER, WHEN THEMOUNTAIN MELTOFF IS UNDERWAY ANDCREEKS, STREAMS, AND RIVERSRECEDE, THE 2017 GOLD RUSH WILLBE ON.>> THIS STREAM RIGHT HERE WILLBE DOWN TO JUST A FEW INCHESDEEP, AND THERE WILL BE PEOPLEIN HERE WITH SLUICE BOXES ANDGOLD PANS AND LOOKING FOR GOLDTO SEE WHAT'S BEEN DEPOSITEDFROM THIS LAST SET OF FLOODS.MAX: BEFORE FINDING THAT IN ANAREA LIKE TRAVERSE CREEK, YOUHAVE TO MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THERIGHT EQUIPMENT WHEN LOOKING FORGOLD.>> YOU CAN COME OUT WITHSOMETHING AS SIMPLE AS A GOLDPAN.MAX: OR YOU CAN TAKE IT UP ANOTCH WITH A SLUCIE BOX. >> THE GOLD BEING HEAVY IS GOINGTO GET CAUGHT IN THIS BLACK MATAND BEHIND EACH ONE OF THESERIFFLES, WHERE THERE'S AN EDDYCREATED, AND IT ALLOWS THEHEAVIER MATERIAL TO DROP OUT.MAX: AT BLACK SHEEP MINING INSACRAMENTO, BUINESS BOOMS INANTICIPATION OF WHAT MIGHT BEFOUND COME JULY.>> WE'VE SEEN A LOT OF GROUNDTHAT'S BEEN MOVED AROUND ANDEXPOSED TO WHERE PEOPLE HAVEN'TGOTTEN TO IT IN YEARS OR EVER,EVEN.SO WE'RE SEEING A LARGE INCREASEIN BUSINESS.MAX: THOSE PROSPECTORS WILL ENDUP OUT HERE AT PLACES LIKESTIFLE MEMORIAL CLAIM READY FORA DIG GEOLOGIST RICH DVORACEKSAYS WILL BE UNLIKE ANYTHINGWE'VE SEEN IN 20 YEARS.JUST DON'T EXPECT RICH TO TELLYOU WHERE TO LOOK.>> IF YOU DO FIND GOLD, DON'TTRUST ANYBODY TO TELL YOU WHERETHEY GOT IT, TO BE TRUTHFULABOUT IT.I RARELY AM.MAX: IN EL DORADO COUNTY, MAX ||||| JAMESTOWN, Tuolumne County (KPIX 5) — Weeks of rainy weather across Northern California and the storm runoff through the hills of gold country have triggered a new gold rush.

 “Miner Gary” Thomas said he always finds at least a little gold here on his property near Jamestown in Tuolumne County, but this year, there’s so much more runoff than normal and it’s shaking the gold from these hills.

 Thomas said it could provide a “Eureka” moment for those inclined to come up here and look for it. “(The runoff) kind of ‘etch-a-sketches’ everything,” said Thomas. “Eveything I had dug up and now my dig spots are all gone.”

 The known gold digs were washed out, trees uprooted, and landscape eroded. The runoffs have also removed gold out of the old abandoned mines and sent it down the river.

 “It’s going to bring down more gold,” said Thomas. “It’s going to bring up new areas that I never got to.”

 Thomas runs tour groups through his property and said now is the optimum time for gold hunting because the storms have just finished churning the landscape.

 Officials from the Bureau of Land Management say the erosion “concentrates” the gold by removing the lighter rock and soil.

 You may be wondering if this reporter found any during our time here. We did find some fine flakes of what they call “flour gold” and it was found more quickly than normal in just a couple of panning sessions.

 “Eureka!” said Thomas.”That’s hard to do.”

 But not as hard this year, now that Mother Nature has shaken up the motherlode.

 Thomas said one hot spot this year will be below the Oroville Dam, because the huge water releases from the spillway could reveal some new pockets of gold. ||||| Joey Wilson, left, rings up Curtis Barwick for a gold pan and a portable slough Saturday at Adventures in Prospecting in downtown Oroville. Dan Reidel — Enterprise-Record

 Oroville >> Now is not the time to quit your day job in hopes of striking it rich. However, people with a new or renewed interest in gold mining may be spending more of their summer weekends near rivers and streams.

 Joey Wilson owns Adventures in Prospecting in Oroville, where he says there’s been more excitement among his gold mining customers.

 “There’s always been gold in the Feather River,” he said. What’s new is that the recent floods have moved things around.

 It’s not just the Feather River. Floods scoured the banks of the American River, the Mokelumne, the Yuba and just about any other waterway where 49ers once got their boots dirty.

 Curtis Barwick was in Oroville Saturday waiting for the prospecting store to open. He usually looks for gold closer to his home in Anderson, but decided to check out Oroville on his day off. He said gold mining gets him outdoors and helps him “recharge,” after a stressful week at work. It’s a lot like hiking, another of his hobbies, but with gold mining there’s a chance of a reward.

 “The odds are greater than winning the lottery,” he said. Even on days when he only finds a few flakes, it’s fun to turn over rocks and sand.

 He’s not alone. In fact, he’s a member of the Shasta Miners and Prospectors Association.

 Back in the day, miners in the 1850s did not have metal detectors. Barwick bought one a while back and said if “lead was gold, I’d be rich.” He had found more bullet casings than he cares to collect. Other finds include coins, and a 1944 nickel. He gave his girlfriend a ring he found in the dirt, and would recommend that anyone who buys a metal detector have some fun digging around in their own backyard.

 Others make gold mining an adventure. That’s one of the reasons Wilson named his shop “Adventures in Prospecting.” He sells wet suits and fins, and personally loves to dive when he hunts gold.

 Finding gold is a common thread for Cindy and Paul Pekarek, who were at the Montgomery Street miner’s supply shop Saturday. The couple belong to the Mother Lode Goldhounds, near Grass Valley, and for fun they travel to new digs, including Oroville.

 Paul Pekarek is a five-time gold mining champion, he said pointing to a pin on his wide-brimmed, black leather hat. The pin includes a miniature gold pan, pickaxe and shovel, with a real glob of gold in the center. To win the championships, he proved he could pan faster than most others.

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 Some people, like Mark Saposnik, are “pretty serious” about gold mining. Saposnik spent his summers during college dredge mining. It’s more difficult to find gold now that dredging is no longer allowed, he said. The recent floods have “rearranged the rivers,” he said, and he’ll spend more time stomping around.

 Spillway gold?

 Gold miners can speculate all they want about gold that may or may not have washed down the hillside near the Oroville spillway. Before hydraulic mining was outlawed, hillsides up and down the river were washed away to unearth gold.

 Gold is heavy, and prospectors would love to discover what is among the debris at the Diversion Pool. However, the area is closed except for the work crew.

 Recent word from Department of Water Resources acting director Bill Croyle was that he did not know if gold had been found in the area.

 It’s a moot point because “if anybody gets close to it they will be run off,” said Bob Van Camp, known locally as “Digger Bob.”

 Van Camp was the spokesman in 2014 when a 5.18 pound gold nugget was found in the Butte foothills. The man who found the nugget has remained anonymous, but Van Camp was allowed to tell the story.

 As for the spillway debris, Van Camp said he believes there is a gold vein that runs from Potter’s Ravine and south, including the area of the spillway.

 In addition to panning near waterways, prospectors look for quartz, especially chunks that have been worn smooth by water flow. “Then you go downstream.”

 He’ll also walk the higher ground with a metal detector, hoping some of that quartz will give him a strong signal.

 Ninety-nine percent of the time the quartz is just quartz, but “now and again,” the quartz will have “some sort of metal in it.” This might mean manganese or silver, “or there may be gold inside.”

 Part of the fun in finding gold is knowing it’s something that an old-time gold miner missed, Van Camp said. “I don’t do it for the money. I just do it for the adventure, for the challenge.”

 He would love to get his hands dirty in the Diversion Pool at Lake Oroville right now. However, he understands that DWR is working night and day to get the water flow back to normal.

 People will be looking at other areas, where gold panning is allowed. After the floods of the mid 1990s, “it was good getting for those of us who knew how to look,” he said.

 For an amateur, the adventure could lead to frustration. “But I don’t want to discourage people from learning about history, getting some fresh air and enjoying themselves, even if they don’t find anything.”

 Right now, the water is still high. When dry times arrive, more streambed will be exposed, he said.

 “I’m going to have a ball this summer.”

 Know the rules

 The rules have changed for gold miners. Suction dredge equipment is no longer allowed, which includes “mechanized or motorized” systems for removing material from the water.

 Contact reporter Heather Hacking at 896-7758. |||||
What is a summary?

– This winter's flooding in Northern California has done more than bring relief after years of drought; it's created the prospect of the best gold prospecting in 20 years. Gold hunters in the area tell the Chico Enterprise-Record the floods have "rearranged the rivers" and "move things around." That means gold veins that have been hidden for 200 years are suddenly exposed. According to CBS San Francisco, the floods also swept gold out of abandoned mines and washed it downriver. While KCRA reports that gold can simply be picked off the ground following major flooding, the best prospecting will come in the summer months when the water has receded. Right now, rivers are still high and government workers are trying to keep would-be prospectors away while they get things under control. But in the summer—which experts say could be the busiest since the one that followed major flooding in 1997—stream beds will be exposed for better gold hunting. "I'm going to have a ball," one prospector tells the Chico newspaper. The epicenter for the new gold rush could be the Oroville Dam, which nearly catastrophically flooded this winter and required the use of an emergency spillway for the first time. (This treasure hunter is seeking $1 billion in gold from a sunken ship.)


Summarize this article:

SEOUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met North Korean officials in Pyongyang on Friday, hoping to “fill in” details on how to dismantle the North’s nuclear program and recover the remains of U.S. troops missing from the Korean War.

 Pompeo met Kim Yong Chol, who played a key role with Pompeo in arranging last month’s summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore, according to a pool report by reporters traveling with him.

 The talks lasted nearly three hours and it was uncertain whether Pompeo would meet Kim Jong Un. He will spend the night in Pyongyang, his first overnight stay in North Korea.

 “We just wrapped our first meeting of the day,” Pompeo told reporters. “I’m proud of my team’s work.”

 At the Singapore summit, Kim Jong Un made a broad commitment to “work toward denuclearization”, but fell short of details on how or when he would dismantle North Korea’s nuclear program, which it has pursued in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions.

 “The President told me he believes that Chairman Kim sees a different, brighter future for the people of North Korea. We both hope that’s true,” Pompeo said on Twitter after a phone call with Trump as he headed for North Korea.

 “Next stop: Pyongyang. I look forward to continuing my meetings with North Korean leaders. There’s much hard work ahead but peace is worth the effort.”

 Pompeo said he was seeking to “fill in” some details on North Korea’s commitments and maintain the momentum towards implementing the agreement from the summit, according to the pool report.

 Pompeo would try to agree on at least an initial list of nuclear sites and an inventory that could be checked against the available intelligence, U.S. intelligence officials told Reuters.

 Also high on the agenda is the issue of the remains of U.S. soldiers missing from the 1950-53 Korean War. Trump said after the Singapore summit that Kim had agreed to send the remains back to the United States.

 Both issues are considered essential tests of whether Kim is serious about negotiations. North Korean officials have yet to demonstrate that in working-level talks, the intelligence officials said.

 U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks during a meeting with North Korean Director of the United Front Department Kim Yong Chol at the Park Hwa Guest House in Pyongyang, North Korea, July 6, 2018. Andrew Harnik/Pool via REUTERS

 “If they’re serious, then we can get down to the business of defining the terms of final denuclearization,” said one official.

 But the U.S. ability to verify the accuracy of any North Korean list is limited due to the lack of a “high confidence” accounting of the North’s nuclear arsenal, such as the number of warheads and uranium enrichment facilities, especially if they are not operational, they said.

 While, in the past, the Pentagon has said North Korean officials have indicated they had the remains of as many as 200 U.S. troops, a U.S. military official familiar with the procedures for handling remains said it was not clear what North Korea might hand over.

 “BUILDING TRUST”

 Pompeo will stay in the Paekhwawon, or 100 Flowers Garden, a prestigious guesthouse where former South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun stayed during his summit with Kim Jong Un’s father, Kim Jong Il, in 2007.

 “This is your third visit to our country so I guess you are used to it now,” Kim Yong Chol told Pompeo at the guesthouse, according to the report. “The more you come, more trust we can build between one another.”

 Some officials in the State and Defense Departments and in U.S. intelligence agencies are worried that Trump has put himself at a disadvantage by overstating the results of the Singapore summit.

 Ahead of the summit, Pompeo said Trump would reject anything short of “complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization”.

 But following talks on Sunday between U.S. envoy Sung Kimand North Korean counterparts, this “CVID” language appears to have disappeared from the State Department lexicon.

 It says pressure will remain until North Korea denuclearizes, but in statements this week, it redefined the U.S. goal as “the final, fully verified denuclearization” of the country.

 Some U.S. officials and experts have said the change in language amounted to a softening in approach. The State Department said its policy remains unchanged.

 Pompeo’s talks, which resume on Saturday, will be closely watched in the region. He is due to meet officials from allies South Korea and Japan in Tokyo also on Sunday.

 Slideshow (11 Images)

 A spokesman for South Korea’s presidential office would only say South Korea and the United States were working to formulate “constructive measures” on North Korea’s denuclearization. ||||| When Mike Pompeo meets Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang, he will reportedly attempt to smooth a path towards denuclearisation with a gift that playfully references a low point in relations between the North Korean leader and Donald Trump: a CD of Elton John’s Rocket Man.

 The US secretary of state will present Kim with the CD along with a letter from Trump, who memorably turned the song’s title into an epithet after the North stepped up its ballistic missile tests last year.

 Play Video 2:26 Trump: I’ll handle ‘little rocket man’ Kim Jong-un – video

 Quoting unnamed sources in Washington, South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo newspaper said the gifts reflected Trump’s belief that Kim would follow through on commitments the leaders agreed at their summit in Singapore last month.

 Several times last year, Trump referred to the dictator as “little rocket man,” while Kim reciprocated by labelling the president a “mentally deranged dotard”.

 Trump raised the rocket man reference during their meeting, the newspaper said. Kim said he had never heard the song, it added, prompting the president to ask Pompeo to take the CD with him to Pyongyang on what is his third trip to North Korea since April.

 Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) Next stop: Pyongyang. I look forward to continuing my meetings with North Korean leaders. There's much hard work ahead but peace is worth the effort. pic.twitter.com/eozwL3Mx28

 Pompeo was met on Friday at Pyongyang airport by Kim Yong-chol, a senior ruling party official and former intelligence chief, and foreign minister Ri Yong Ho. While still en route, his spokeswoman Heather Nauert said he was “seeking to fill in some details on these [denuclearisation] commitments and continue the momentum towards implementation of what the two leaders promised each other and the world. I expect that the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] is ready to do the same.”

 The CD is not the first bizarre White House offering to Pyongyang. During their summit, the US and North Korean delegations watched a four-minute video, made in the style of a Hollywood trailer, setting out the North’s stark choice: conflict with a powerful enemy or a peaceful and prosperous future as America’s (denuclearised) partner. The film, a copy of which was given to Kim, casts him and Trump as the architects of a new chapter in world history – “two men, two leaders, one destiny”.

 As concerns grow that North Korea is upgrading its nuclear capability, despite agreeing to work towards the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, Pompeo said he expected the North to “fill in some details” outlined in the leaders’ Singapore declaration.

 Pompeo said: “Since the summit the consultations have continued. On this trip I’m seeking to fill in some details on these commitments and continue the momentum towards implementation of what the two leaders promised each other and the world. I expect that [North Korea] is ready to do the same.”

 In an earlier tweet Pompeo said Trump believes Kim wants a “different, brighter future” for North Koreans. “I spoke with @POTUS while we were both in the air. The President told me he believes that Chairman Kim sees a different, brighter future for the people of North Korea. We both hope that’s true,” he said. ||||| Donald Trump applauds while delivering a State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2018.

 Donald Trump made his way to Great Falls, Montana, on Thursday (July 5), primarily to slam Democratic Sen. Jon Tester and accuse him of failing to live up to his promises in Washington.

 However, among the digs at Tester, Trump made a particularly interesting comment, originally noted by Deadline. He compared his oral skills to the talent of the great Elton John. "I’ve broken more Elton John [attendance] records, and I don’t have a musical instrument," he boasted. "I don’t have a guitar, or an organ. This is my only musical instrument–the mouth–and hopefully the brain is attached to the mouth. The brain is so much more important.”

 The President and the music icon have had a bit of history during the 2016 campaign. Trump used "Rocket Man" during a lot of his rallies, and often refers to North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un as the song title.

 “I don’t really want my music to be involved in anything to do with an American election campaign. I’m British,” John told The Guardian at the time. “I’ve met Donald Trump, he was very nice to me, it’s nothing personal, his political views are his own, mine are very different, I’m not a Republican in a million years.” ||||| HONG KONG — When President Trump threatened to “totally destroy” North Korea and mocked its leader, Kim Jong-un, as “Rocket Man” in a speech on Tuesday at the United Nations General Assembly, the rhetorical retaliation from Pyongyang was inevitable.

 That Mr. Kim would call Mr. Trump a “mentally deranged U.S. dotard” on Friday was something more of a surprise. The word “dotard” in particular sent people to the dictionary to look up the arcane put-down. ||||| U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo left for North Korea on Thursday for denuclearization talks and brought two gifts for leader Kim Jong-un. One is a letter from U.S. President Donald Trump and the other an Elton John CD with his song "Rocket Man." Sources in Washington said the gifts reflect Trump's expectations that Kim will follow through on the pledges in an agreement the two signed at their summit.

 One diplomatic source in Washington said, "The 'Rocket Man' CD was the subject of discussion during Trump's lunch with Kim. Kim mentioned that Trump referred to him as 'rocket man' when tensions ran high last year" after a series of nuclear tests and missile launches by the North. "Trump then asked Kim if he knew the song and Kim said no." Trump remembered the conversation and told Pompeo to take a CD with the song for Kim. He reportedly wrote a message on it and signed it. Pompeo arrives in Pyongyang on Friday for a two-day visit. This is his third trip to North Korea. He is accompanied by Sung Kim, the U.S. ambassador to the Philippines and seasoned nuclear negotiator, Allison Hooker, a National Security Council adviser, Randall Schriver, an assistant secretary of defense for Asia Pacific security affairs, and Andrew Kim, the head of the CIA's Korea Mission Center. Six reporters are also on the plane.

 U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo boards a plane at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland on Thursday. /AP-Yonhap

 Trump softened his approach to denuclearization since the summit. Reuters on Wednesday said Trump appears to have "shelved an 'all or nothing' approach to North Korean denuclearization. The U.S. State Department furtively shifted its insistence on a complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization (CVID) to a finally, fully-verified denuclearization (FFVD) after the North bristled against the former approach. Pompeo is expected to discuss the return of the remains of U.S. soldiers killed during the 1950-53 Korean War. Although the North agreed to return their remains, details need to be ironed out, and North Korea has not yet taken delivery of some 100 coffins that are waiting at the border. The two sides will also discuss the timing of the North's dismantlement of the Tongchang-ri missile engine test site and whether to allow U.S. monitors to observe the process.

 From left, Andrew Kim, Sung Kim, Allison Hooker and Randall Schriver

 But the key is whether Pompeo can get Kim to act on his vague denuclearization pledge, agreeing to dismantle a specified amount of nuclear warheads by a given date. U.S. officials remain skeptical whether Pompeo's visit will produce palpable results. North Korea experts in Washington are unconvinced of the North's sincerity, and U.S. intelligence reports leaked last week suggest that North Korea is hiding nuclear facilities and suggest it has no real intention of giving up its nuclear arsenal. Read this article in Korean ||||| Photo: Getty

 President Trump gave a speech at the United Nations in September of 2017 where he famously called Kim Jong Un, “rocket man.” Now, in one of the most bizarre stories we’ve heard this week, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will deliver a CD of Elton John’s song “Rocket Man” to the North Korean dictator today. Our world is truly beyond parody.

 When President Trump and Kim met during their historic photo-op on June 12th, Trump reportedly asked Kim if he’d ever heard Elton John’s 1972 hit song. According to the South Korean media outlet Chosun Ilbo, the 34-year-old Kim replied that he’s never heard “Rocket Man.” So now Trump is sending a signed copy of the CD to Kim. Not signed by Elton John, mind you. The CD is reportedly signed by Donald Trump.

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 Trump repeatedly called Kim both “rocket man” and “little rocket man” on Twitter and at his “campaign-style” neo-fascist rallies over the past year.

 Mike Pompeo arrived in North Korea today for a two-day planning visit with officials from North Korea. The meeting is the third for Pompeo as they begin to lay the groundwork for another meeting between Trump and Kim. But skeptics wonder if this next meeting will actually accomplish anything.

 So far, the United States is the only side that has given any concessions by agreeing to cease military drills in the region. North Korea has supposedly agreed to work towards denuclearization, something the country has agreed to many times before but never actually done. Experts have been cautiously optimistic that the meetings have staved off a Trump-created crisis, as he’s repeatedly threatened war against North Korea. But they also worry that Trump is setting expectations for disarmament that won’t be met.

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 Photo: AP

 “On this trip, I’m seeking to fill in some details on those commitments and continue the momentum toward implementation of what the two leaders promised each other and the world,” Secretary Pompeo said in a written statement from the State Department. “I expect that (North Korea) is ready to do the same.”

 For whatever it’s worth, Rocket Man is a damn good song. But Elton John hasn’t given Trump any kind of endorsement.

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 Trump’s obsession with the song “Rocket Man” predates his presidency. Trump used the song repeatedly during his 2016 campaign at numerous rallies. But Elton John insists he never gave permission for use of the song.

 “I don’t really want my music to be involved in anything to do with an American election campaign. I’m British,” Elton John said at the time. “I’ve met Donald Trump, he was very nice to me, it’s nothing personal, his political views are his own, mine are very different, I’m not a Republican in a million years.”

 [Chosun Ilbo]

 Update, July 7, 2018, 11:10am: The U.S. State Department has come out denying that this story is true.

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 From the Washington Post:

 Speaking as Pompeo arrived in Tokyo, Nauert told reporters that the only thing Pompeo had left in Pyongyang was a letter to the North Korean leader from President Trump. “He didn’t leave anything behind other than a letter,” Nauert said.

 But when Pompeo was asked about the CD directly he didn’t confirm or deny the story:

 Pompeo was asked about the CD earlier by a journalist accompanying him to North Korea; the secretary of state laughed but did not confirm or deny the report.

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 So, I guess, make of that what you will.

 Update, July 10, 2018: President Trump has confirmed the existence of the CD but said that Pompeo didn’t deliver it yet.

 “They didn’t give it. I have it for him. They didn’t give it. But it will be given at a different period,” Trump told pool reporters before departing for Europe this morning. “I actually do have a little gift for him, but you’ll find out what that gift is when I give it.” ||||| The Chinese Envoy, who just returned from North Korea, seems to have had no impact on Little Rocket Man. Hard to believe his people, and the military, put up with living in such horrible conditions. Russia and China condemned the launch. |||||

– President Trump is about to dredge up what the Guardian says was a "low point" in his relationship with Kim Jong Un, but this time around as a wry attempt to suggest "no harm, no foul" to the North Korean leader. At least, that's what appears to be the reason behind a gift Trump is reportedly giving Kim, to be delivered via Secretary of State Mike Pompeo while he's in North Korea this week: a CD with Elton John's song "Rocket Man," per the Chosun Ilbo's sources. Late last year, Trump often referred to Kim—and not in a complimentary way—as "Rocket Man" or "Little Rocket Man" in tweets and speeches, leading Kim to fire back that Trump was a "mentally deranged US dotard." Apparently the "Rocket Man" epithet came up when the two leaders met at last month's summit in Singapore, and Trump discovered that Kim had never heard the Elton John song. And so the CD (reportedly signed by Trump) ended up in Pompeo's luggage, along with a letter to Kim. Gizmodo, which calls "Rocket Man" a "damn good song," notes Trump seems fixated on the 1972 hit, which became a staple of sorts at his rallies while he was campaigning for the presidency. On Thursday, Trump once again referenced the British superstar, per Billboard, noting at a rally in Montana that "I've broken more Elton John [attendance] records, and I don't have a musical instrument. … This is my only musical instrument—the mouth—and hopefully the brain is attached to the mouth. The brain is so much more important."


Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) today released the following statement on the Syrian regime’s complaint to the United Nations regarding Senator McCain’s visit with Syrian rebels last year:

 “It is a sad but unsurprising truth that the Assad regime is less concerned with its massacre of more than 200,000 men, women and children than it is my visit with those brave Syrians fighting for their freedom and dignity. The fact that the international community has done virtually nothing to bring down this terrible regime despite its atrocities is a stain on our collective moral conscience.”

 ### ||||| U.S. Senator John McCain tweeted his pride at winning a diplomatic “superfecta” Monday night, after Syria’s ambassador to the U.N. lashed out at him for violating the country’s sovereignty after McCain visited rebel-held territory in 2013.

 A delighted McCain grouped the Syrian complaint with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s March 2014 decision to put him on a sanctions list as occasions when he had upset powers to which he was opposed.

 The other two occasions were former Cuban President Fidel Castro’s September 2014 tirade, in which he accused McCain of creating the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) together with the Israeli secret service agency Mossad, and the time, he claimed to Fox News, when ISIS declared him as their No. 1 enemy.

 The Syrian complaint was made on Monday, when envoy Bashar Ja’afari asked Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the U.N.’s 15-member Security Council in a letter to take “the necessary measures against their nationals who enter Syrian territory illegally,” according to Reuters.

 Ja’afari also lambasted French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and former U.S. diplomat Peter Galbraith for entering Syria without a visa.

 The Arizona Senator fired back at Damascus and accused Bashar Assad’s government of massacring its own people.

 “It is a sad but unsurprising truth that the Assad regime is less concerned with its massacre of more than 200,000 men, women and children than it is my visit with those brave Syrians fighting for their freedom and dignity,” said McCain in a statement. |||||

Write a summary.

– John McCain has put together quite the résumé for himself lately, and it includes the wrath of Vladimir Putin, ISIS, Fidel Castro, and now the regime of Bashar al-Assad. McCain added those latest bragging rights after Bashar Ja'afari, the Syrian ambassador to the UN, yesterday asked the Security Council and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to "take the necessary measures against their nationals who enter Syrian territory illegally," Time reports. Although Ja'afari blasted "certain journalists and prominent figures" for this infraction, he specifically singled out the Arizona senator's entry into the country's rebel-held territory in June 2013, Reuters reports. McCain took the opportunity yesterday to cheerfully tweet that "Today I hit the Superfecta! First I was sanctioned by Vladimir Putin, then #ISIS called me 'enemy #1.'" His elation spread into a second tweet, which read "Next Fidel Castro said I created #ISIS w/ #Israel's Mossad and today Assad regime tried to sanction me @UN for visit to #Syrian rebels." He elaborated in a more somber statement yesterday: "It is a sad but unsurprising truth that the Assad regime is less concerned with its massacre of more than 200,000 men, women, and children than it is my visit with those brave Syrians fighting for their freedom and dignity." (Is McCain trying to add Obama to his list?)


Summarize this article:

The news director of a Chicago TV station apologized after a staff member mistakenly chose a symbol of Nazi Germany to illustrate a story about Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement.

 “Regrettably, we failed to recognize that the artwork we chose to accompany the story contained an offensive symbol,” the director, Jennifer Lyons, said in an apology on Wednesday. “This was an unfortunate mistake. Ignorance is not an excuse.”

 The apology came the morning after Tom Negovan, an anchor with WGN-TV Chicago, read a 20-second description of the holiday. Over his shoulder, viewers could see a graphic of a Star of David badge emblazoned with the German word “Jude,” or Jew, on striped material of the kind used in Nazi prisoner uniforms.

 Marc Karlinsky noticed the badge and posted a photo of the segment to Twitter, which was widely shared.

 In an on-air acknowledgment that lasted roughly as long as his original Yom Kippur segment, Mr. Negovan made what he called a “major correction” and said that anchors were not able to see the symbol during the original broadcast.

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 “We apparently used a symbol that is extremely offensive to the Jewish community,” he said. “We mistakenly showed a symbol used by Nazi Germany to identify Jews.” ||||| As Chicago WGN anchor Tom Negovan reports a story on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish year, a Nazi-era symbol is used to illustrate the segment. (Photo: WGN screenshot)

 Oy vey, someone wasn't paying attention in history class.

 A Chicago TV station has apologized after it used an image of a star that the Nazis forced Jews to wear as the station aired a segment about Yom Kippur, the most solemn day in the Jewish year.

 As anchor Tom Negovan reported a story about the holiday, which ran from Tuesday evening to Wednesday sundown, the image projected behind him was of the yellow patch on a background of white and blue stripes similar to the uniforms that Jews and other inmates wore in concentration camps.

 In the middle of the star was the word "Jude," which is German for Jew.

 A Twitter storm began almost immediately when Mark Larkinsky, an editor at Chicago Lawyer magazine, quickly tweeted his shock and amazement at the error.

 "Holy crap,@WGNNews, this is your stock photo for a Jewish holiday?? Nobody thought that's a bad choice of photo?

 Holy crap, @WGNNews, this is your stock photo for a Jewish holiday?? Nobody thought that's a bad choice of photo? pic.twitter.com/z7BNuvGybS — Marc Karlinsky (@MarcKarlinsky) September 23, 2015

 In a statement posted online, WGN General Manager Greg Easterly and News Director Jennifer Lyons said the picture came from its image bank, and they "failed to recognize that the image was an offensive Nazi symbol."

 The station also apologized on Twitter.

 We are truly sorry for inadvertently using an offensive image in our Yom Kippur story. We apologize and deeply regret the error. — WGN TV News (@WGNNews) September 23, 2015

 "We are extremely embarrassed and we deeply apologize to our viewers and to the Jewish community for this mistake," the WGN statement said. "Ignorance is not an excuse."

 "Please know we are reviewing our in-house policies and changes have already been made to make sure a hurtful oversight like this never happens again," officials with the station wrote in their apology.

 "Thank you for your understanding. We promise to do better."

 Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1Kx80zs |||||

– For a news report last night commemorating Yom Kippur, a Chicago TV station selected a Star of David as accompanying artwork—except someone picked the absolute worst one possible, USA Today reports. As the anchor talked about the holiday during the broadcast, a graphic appeared of a yellow star with the word "Jude" ("Jew" in German) against a blue-and-white-striped background, which resembled the badge Nazis used to separate Jewish people from the rest of society, the New York Times notes. About half an hour later came the station apology on Twitter: "We are truly sorry for inadvertently using an offensive image in our story. We apologize and deeply regret the error." The station's "extremely embarrassed" GM and news director also posted a statement online noting they "failed to recognize that the artwork we chose to accompany the story contained an offensive symbol" and that they'll be reviewing the graphics-selection process. "Ignorance is not an excuse," they wrote. (Hallmark had to yank "swastika" Hanukkah wrapping paper last year.)