Media Today

[Rick Plant]

'Wheel of Fortune’ Host Pat Sajak to Retire After 41 Seasons: ‘It’s Been a Wonderful Ride’
https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/pat-sajak-retiring-wheel-of-fortune-1235641670/

[Rick Plant]

LIVE: Federal Indictment of Donald J. Trump

Trump is charged with 37 felony counts related to his mishandling of classified documents after leaving the White House.

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[Rick Plant]

Denver Nuggets win first NBA championship title in Game 5 victory over Miami Heat
https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/12/sport/denver-nuggets-nba-championship-spt-intl/index.html


#8 HEAT at #1 NUGGETS | FULL GAME 5 HIGHLIGHTS | June 12, 2023

Game 5 highlights of the NBA Championship.

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[Rick Plant]

Actor Treat Williams dies in motorcycle accident l GMA

The 71-year-old star of "Everwood" and "Hair" suffered critical injuries and was airlifted to Albany Medical Center in New York where he was later pronounced dead.

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[Rick Plant]

Florida police officer drives off after being pulled over for speeding by sheriff's deputy

A Seminole County Sheriff’s Office arrest report shows Officer Alexander Shaouni was arrested last week for the incident on June 6.

A deputy said he saw a marked Orlando Police Department SUV driving at least 80 mph in a 45 mph zone with no lights or sirens activated.

The deputy had to speed to catch up to the SUV. The deputy said they put on their lights and sirens but the OPD vehicle did not pull over. The deputy had to pull their vehicle in front of the SUV to make it clear the OPD SUV needed to stop.

Body camera video shows the deputy get out of their vehicle and meet with Shaouni, who got out of his vehicle. Shaouni, who was in a uniform with his name on it, said he was going to work. When the deputy asked what type of call, Shaouni said, “Look how I am dressed, what do you think?”

The deputy said Shaouni refused to present his driver’s license to the deputy, then got back in his SUV and drove off.

The Orlando Police Department told News 6 Monday that Shaouni was relieved of duty pending sheriff’s office and OPD internal investigations.

In the meantime, Shaouni is facing charges of reckless driving, fleeing and eluding law enforcement and resisting an officer without violence.

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[Rick Plant]

Baseball-sized hail reported from thunderstorm in state



Storms crossing Arkansas on Wednesday night brought hail as large as baseballs to parts of the state, the National Weather Service Little Rock tweeted.

Around 5:55 p.m., people in the community of Royal in Garland County reported baseball-sized hail from a storm complex that was moving toward downtown Hot Springs, the tweet states.

The combination of hot humid air that feeds strong and sudden thunderstorms and cold dry air in the atmosphere helps make large hail out of the water created by the storm system, said Dennis Cavanaugh, warning coordination meteorologist for the weather service’s North Little Rock office.

“You need colder drier air sitting on top of hot humid air,” Cavanaugh said.

The severe thunderstorm warning for Hot Springs was lifted at 6:30 p.m., tweets from the weather agency showed, but warnings for Malvern, Sheridan and Haskell were in place until 7:15 p.m.

People in communities near Hot Springs reported hail falling that ranged from tennis ball to baseball sized, Cavanaugh said.

As of 6:50 p.m., the storm had passed into Grant County, with the largest concentration of hail in the southwest part of the county, Cavanaugh said.

The tweet warned that hail of this size can be deadly, and directed people to seek shelter inside until the storm passed.

https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/jun/14/baseball-sized-hail-reported-in-garland-county/



Baseball-sized hail splashes into Arkansas lake as intense storms pummel region

Parts of central Arkansas were impacted by large hail as severe thunderstorms rolled through the region on Wednesday, June 14.

Video recorded from inside a home in Hot Springs shows large hail stones battering the surface of Lake Hamilton.

The National Weather Service warned of baseball-sized hail and winds up to 70 mph across the region.

[Rick Plant]

Human body parts stolen from Harvard morgue. What we know about the ‘disturbing' scheme

Federal prosecutors say the scheme began in 2018 and lasted into this year

An alleged scheme involving the exchange of human remains stolen from Harvard Medical School's morgue for money was made public on Wednesday, as unsealed federal charging documents depicted an apparently lucrative black market for body parts.

Several people are being charged in this investigation, including the former manager of the morgue, Cedric Lodge, who has been accused of having people choose body parts they want to buy at the morgue, then stealing parts of donated cadavers like brains, skin and bones, before allegedly taking them to his New Hampshire home and sending them from there.

Among the list of defendants are his wife, Denise Lodge, and a woman named Katrina Maclean, who runs a store called Kat's Creepy Creations in Peabody, Massachusetts.

Morbid charges outlined by feds

Seven people in total have been indicted in what investigators have said is a nationwide network of people involved in the stealing, selling and purchasing of human remans, some of which came from Harvard Medical School.

Out of the seven accused, three are from New England, including the Lodges. Prosecutors allege that Cedric Lodge stole human organs and bones from cadavers donated for medical research, that were supposed to be cremated.

The couple's home had been raided back in March, but they weren't arrested until Wednesday — leaving their neighbors in shock.

"It's creepy that number one it's two doors down, number two what kind of sick people do we have in this world who would even buy these," a neighbor named Roxanne Ryder said.

Among the alleged buyers is Katrina Maclean, who was reportedly allowed by Cedric to enter the morgue to choose the parts she and a Pennsylvania man wanted to purchase — including skin, brains and bones. Court documents said that in 2020, Maclean bought two dissected faces for $600 and shipped human skin to Pennsylvania, while running the Kat's Creepy Creations store in Peabody that sells creepy dolls, bone art and other oddities.

She did not speak to news outlets while leaving federal court on Wednesday, but her lawyer did speak on her behalf.

"She's never been in trouble before and obviously this was very distressful," her attorney Gordon Spencer said. "She just wants to be home with her family."

Reaction from family impacted

A pair of sisters were in disbelief after learning that their father's remains were among those said to be stolen.

"It's like a dream, you know what I mean? It's like not real, but it is real," Paula Peltonovich said.

Peltonovich, and her sister, Darlene Lynch, said that their parents were both police officers and wanted to donate their bodies to science. They want their mother's body back, now.

"My concern is getting my mom back," said Peltonovich. "I don't want them to touch my mom. I mean, can you blame me? I mean, seriously, it's just the whole thing's wrong."

Harvard Medical School said Wednesday it was "deeply sorry for the pain and uncertainty caused by this troubling news." It set up a page of resources for family members of people who have donated their bodies to the Anatomical Gift Program.

Among those resources is a toll-free information and support center that can be reached 24 hours a day at 1-888-268-1129, the school said.

'An abhorrent betrayal'

In addition to the family of one man's remains who were said to be impacted, law enforcement officials and leaders at Harvard Medical School have issued statements in the wake of the news.

"Some crimes defy understanding," said U.S. Attorney Gerard Karam in a statement. "The theft and trafficking of human remains strikes at the very essence of what makes us human. It is particularly egregious that so many of the victims here volunteered to allow their remains to be used to educate medical professionals and advance the interests of science and healing. For them and their families to be taken advantage of in the name of profit is appalling."

Karam characterized Harvard Medical School as another victim of the scheme and appreciated their cooperation with the federal investigation.

Deans of the Harvard Medical School wrote a letter to the community on Wednesday addressing the situation, saying that Cedric Lodge was fired on May 6. The letter was titled "An abhorrent betrayal."

"We are appalled to learn that something so disturbing could happen on our campus — a community dedicated to healing and serving others. The reported incidents are a betrayal of HMS and, most importantly, each of the individuals who altruistically chose to will their bodies to HMS through the Anatomical Gift Program to advance medical education and research," said the statement from George Daley, the dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Harvard University and Edward Hundert, the dean for Medical Education at Harvard Medical School.

They offered an apology to the families and loved ones and donors, offering them resources including a 24/7 counseling hotline — anyone who thinks they may have been affected by the scheme can also reach out to federal investigators at usapam-victim.information@usdoj.gov or 717-614-4249.

Watch Video in link: https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/reaction-to-disturbing-scheme-involving-sale-of-stolen-body-parts-from-harvard-morgue/3068742/