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Published: Sunday, March 18, 2018 @ 12:03 AM
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A North Carolina teen visiting the nation’s capitol on a middle school field trip died Thursday after he was hit by a bus March 9, according to officials.
Hunter Brown, 14, of Wilkesboro, North Carolina, was struck and trapped under a tour bus at around 6:50 p.m. near the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial, according to the Wilkes Journal-Patriot.
Responders were able to jack up the bus and free Brown after about 10 minutes, according to WFMY. He was taken to Children’s National Medical Center where he was in critical condition.
Brown was visiting Washington, D.C., on an eighth grade field trip with other students from Central Wilkes Middle School, according to WFMY.
Published: Monday, April 23, 2018 @ 11:21 PM
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton surprised 20 children from Special Olympics North Carolina at a surprise shopping event at a Dick’s Sporting Goods in Barclay Downs, North Carolina, on Monday afternoon.
Each child got a $200 gift card and spent time shopping with Newton, who served as a personal shopping consultant to the children and helped them buy fun sporting goods. Dick's Sporting Goods and the Cam Newton Foundation sponsored the event as part of their efforts to inspire and enable youth sports.
The Special Olympics athletes are participating in the Mecklenburg County Spring Games this week. More than 1,300 Special Olympics athletes are competing in this year’s Spring Games, which include track and field, motor sports, softball and swimming events.
“You see a lot of smiles on these children’s faces and that's contagious,” Newton said.
https://twitter.com/CoreyWSOC9/status/988550497652092928?tfw_site=wsoctv&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wsoctv.com%2Fnews%2Flocal%2Fcam-newton-surprises-special-olympic-athletes-with-shopping-spree%2F737222180
Published: Monday, April 23, 2018 @ 11:45 PM
BAY LAKE, Fla. — Walt Disney World is looking to hire more than 3,500 new workers, even offering “hiring bonuses” of up to $3,000 for some positions.
It all comes as the unions that represent 38,000 Disney workers get set to go back to the bargaining table next week.
Unionized workers have been locked in contract talks since last summer -- and since then, they’ve staged demonstrations and gone back to the bargaining table several times, but still have no deal.
"How can Disney justify giving $3,000 bonuses, when you have 19,000 plus workers making under $11 an hour?” asked Angie McKinnon, a representative of UNITE HERE LOCAL 737.
Union leaders were meeting Monday afternoon as they prepare to head back to the bargaining table one week from Tuesday.
Union workers voted down Disney’s most recent offer of a 3 percent raise for most workers, with a minimum 50-cents-an-hour raise.
And union bosses are upset that Disney won’t pay a $1,000 tax-cut bonus to union members -- unless they accept that deal.
"A lot of them are still waiting on the tax, the money that Disney promised to give them from the tax cut,” said McKinnon.
“As is the case with all aspects of an employee's compensation package, federal law requires that we negotiate the payment of that bonus with the unions, which we are in the process of doing,” a Disney spokeswoman said.
Published: Monday, April 23, 2018 @ 10:49 PM
— A frozen novelty manufacturer is voluntarily recalling certain ice pops that are sold in 15 states for possible listeria contamination.
According to US Recall News, Ziegenfelder Co., of Wheeling, West Virginia, is recalling about 3,000 cases of Budget $aver Cherry Pineapple Monster Pops and Sugar Free Twin Pops because of the possible health risk.
The ice pops were distributed to retail grocers in 15 states:
The ice pop products were delivered between April 5 and April 19, US Recall News reported.
The Cherry Pineapple Monster Pops carry the UPC code 0-74534-84200-9, and have lot codes D09418A through D10018B.
The Sugar Free Pops carry the UPC code 0-74534-75642-9, and have lot codes D09318A through D10018B.
Published: Monday, April 23, 2018 @ 10:13 PM
For the second time in a week, late decisions by a pair of GOP Senators provided the margin of victory for a nominee of President Donald Trump, as after fears of a rare confirmation rebuke, Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Monday got in line behind the nomination of Mike Pompeo to be Secretary of State, setting up a vote later this week for his confirmation in the full Senate.
The key votes were delivered by Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) – who last week made a late switch to help salvage the nomination of Mr. Trump’s choice to run NASA – and by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who had talked for weeks that he would never vote to shift the CIA Director over to the post of Secretary of State.
But after a late lobbying effort by President Trump, Paul stuck with the White House on Pompeo.
“I have changed my mind,” Paul said at a meeting of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Back in March when the President fired Rex Tillerson from the Secretary of State’s job, Paul had made clear he was not going to vote for Pompeo, worried the CIA chief was too set on excessively using U.S. military force around the world.
Labeling Pompeo a “neocon,” Paul had said at the time that he would not vote for the CIA chief, worried that Pompeo was too much like the Republican Party that strongly backed with war in Iraq on Saddam Hussein.
“I simply cannot support Pompeo’s nomination to be our chief diplomat,”
the Kentucky Republican made clear.
But after talks with Pompeo and the President, Paul gave in.
The late changes saved the GOP from an embarrassing foreign policy setback for the President – at a time when he is hosting the French President, and will later in the week receive the German Chancellor.
“He is extremely qualified for the position,” the President’s Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders argued for Pompeo, as she joined GOP Senators in reminding Democrats of the bipartisan votes for past Secretaries of State.
“John Kerry was confirmed 94-3. Hillary Clinton was confirmed 94-2. Condoleezza Rice was confirmed 85-13. Colin Powell was confirmed unanimously by voice vote,” Sanders told reporters.
The turn of events came hours after the President had blasted Democrats for delaying many of his nominees, by stretching out debate time on the Senate floor, leaving little time for work on legislation.
While the President accurately nicked the Democrats for slow-walking many nominations on the Senate floor, certain high-profile choices like Pompeo, Jim Bridenstine for NASA, and Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell have been held up in the Senate not because of Democrats – but because of a lack of unity among Republicans.
For example, Grenell’s nomination was sent to the Senate floor back on January 18. While Democrats did object to action in March, there has been no effort by Senate Republicans to hold a vote – which likely means there aren’t fifty votes for his nomination.
When Monday began, that was in question for Pompeo as well, but the support of Paul, Flake, and a handful of Democrats, means the President will get his Secretary of State.
“The President deserves to have a Secretary of State that agrees with him or her, in general, on a foreign policy direction,” said Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), as he argued for Pompeo’s approval.