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© Times LeaderStephen Stahl
The Wilkes-Barre Area School Board terminated Coughlin High School math and industrial arts teacher Brian Hampel, 44, for allegedly serving as a lookout for Stephen Stahl, who was convicted in January 2015 of having sex with a 16-year-old student in 2004, The Citizen's Voice reports.
Hampel, who had taught in the district since 1998 and ended with an annual salary of $84,001, has denied any knowledge of Stahl's relationship with the girl.
Accusations against Hampel first surfaced in testimony during Stahl's trial last year, and school officials later contracted with Scranton attorney Frank Tunis to conduct an investigation into whether school employees were aware of Stahl's crimes. Hampel's termination is the result of that investigation, WTAE reports.
Stahl, 49, was the dean of students and wrestling coach at Coughlin High School when he was suspended in February 2014 and fired a month later, the Times-Leader reports.
According to the news site:
Police had said he and the victim, then a 10th-grade student, began a sexual relationship that spanned more than a year, beginning in March 2004 and ending sometime prior to November 2005, when she told Stahl the relationship had to end.
The victim, who came forward nearly a decade after the relationship occurred, had told police that Stahl asked for her phone number and that the two later engaged in sexual intercourse at several locations, including a classroom closet during school hours.
© Eric Gaillard / Reuters
The teenager, who is thought to have been using encrypted social media channels to communicate with a French Islamist militant Rachid Kassim was detained in eastern Paris on Wednesday. The suspect who turned 15 a few days ago has been on police watch list since April, officials said.
"We're working with extreme intensity to identify those we think are likely to carry out an attack," Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve told reporters. He warned that Islamic State group tended to recruit "younger and younger individuals" by using encrypted services.
Comment: It's all the US' fault: French president Hollande: 'US response to 9/11 only expanded global terrorism and brought chaos to France'
© APZakieya Avery mugshot
Zakieya Avery, 31, of Germantown, pleaded guilty this week to killing her 1-year-old son and daughter, 2, in January 2014 during a ritual she believed would drive evil spirits out of their bodies. Two of her other children were also injured.
Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Terrence McGann ordered Avery held indefinitely in a psychiatric hospital after declaring her not criminally responsible, the spokesman said. The "not criminally responsible" finding is Maryland's version of not guilty by reason of insanity in other states.
Avery had pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted first-degree murder. The two slain children were stabbed and strangled.
Avery's housemate, Monifa Sanford, was ordered committed to a psychiatric hospital last year after pleading guilty to her involvement in the killings.
© FacebookKarl Lewies
East Idaho News investigated some of those complaints and found Karl Lewies, the Fremont County prosecutor, had allowed men accused of raping and sexually abusing children to admit to less serious charges and avoid prison time and even skip sex offender registration.
Lewies refused to answer questions by email or phone about the plea agreements, and the prosecutor lashed out when East Idaho News reporter Nate Eaton confronted him for an explanation earlier this month at the courthouse. "No, nothing I want to say," Lewies said. "Not this style, Nate, not this style."
Eaton reminded the prosecutor that he's neglected to return phone calls and emails seeking comment, and the reporter told Lewies that he was investigating citizen complaints about his handling of sex abuse cases. "I'd ask who they are," Lewies said, before getting into an elevator to leave. The prosecutor emailed the reporter hours later to complain that his actions in the courthouse were "appalling and unnecessary."
© Brian Snyder / Reuters
Stronger Together, which the Democratic nominee wrote with her running mate Tim Kaine, sold fewer than 3,000 copies in its first week on sale, according to Nielsen BookScan.
This compares very poorly with Clinton's 2014 memoir Hard Choices, which sold more than 85,000 copies in its first week.
Even that book was considered a disappointment following Clinton's 2003 memoir Living History which focused on her years in the White House and shifted around 500,000 copies in its first seven days on sale.
© AFP/Toru YamanakaAttendants hold smartphones to introduce games at the Tokyo Game Show 2016 in Chiba, a suburb of Tokyo, on September 15, 2016.
Virtual reality took centre stage at the annual exhibition Thursday, with Sony Interactive Entertainment showcasing PlayStationVR (PSVR), a much-anticipated head-mounted display debuting next month.
Dozens of software titles for the device are in the pipeline, allowing players to fly like an eagle, drive sports cars in high-speed races, and explore castles. Gamers can also indulge in fantasy by flirting with virtual females thanks to increasingly realistic VR technology.
Among such offerings is "Summer Lesson", which puts the user in the company of a soft-spoken, yet chatty, beauty. "One thing that we cared the most about for 'Summer Lesson' was to create a sense that a character is truly there," said Jun Tamaoki, a developer behind the software by Japanese toy and game giant Bandai Namco, told AFP.
However, Tamaoki shrugged off concerns that such an experience could discourage players from going out to meet real women. "I think this could improve the communications skills" of even the shiest game players, Tamaoki said. "Summer Lesson" is playable on the PSVR but does not feature male characters to interact with.
© Michael Dwyer / AP fileMassachusetts State Police officer Rob Gallant patrols with his bomb-sniffing dog Chico at Logan International Airport in Boston on July 1.
New records obtained by KXAS through a Freedom of Information Act request call into question whether those dog teams are training enough to stay sharp and keep bombs out of airports and off planes by screening baggage, cargo and passengers for potential threats.
K-9 teams funded by the Transportation Security Administration have failed annual certification tests at 10 large airports 52 times between Jan. 1, 2013, and June 15, 2015, the most recent detailed numbers TSA provided. Some teams failed to find explosives, while others had too many false alarms that could cause unnecessary airport evacuations.
Dog teams failed 21 times at Los Angeles International, and 10 times at Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C., during the same time period. Teams at Chicago's O'Hare, Reagan National in D.C., JFK in New York, San Diego and Bradley International in Hartford, Connecticut, all failed from one and three times.
Comment:
© Mike Brown/ReutersA view of the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce
"A fire at any place of worship is a tragedy. Early evidence led to us to believe this was an arson attempt," St. Lucie County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Garry Wilson told reporters on Wednesday. "An arrest has been made 65 hours after the fire was started."
The sheriff's office said they arrested Joseph Michael Schreiber, 32, who had a previous conviction for armed robbery. The sheriff said they followed up on community tips and surveillance footage, which showed a man leaving the mosque on a motorcycle.
After obtaining a search warrant to investigate Schreiber's home, a motorcycle found there matched the one seen on surveillance footage. Police were still at the home collecting evidence at the time of the Wednesday evening news conference.
© Andrew Cullen / Reuters Protesters demonstrate against the Energy Transfer Partners' Dakota Access oil pipeline near the Standing Rock Sioux reservation in Cannon Ball, North Dakota, U.S. September 9, 2016
Unicorn Riot was in North Dakota Tuesday, covering a "direct action" protest against the Dakota Access pipeline. Any time they tried to post their livestream, Facebook rejected the link as one that "our security systems detected to be unsafe."
Twenty-two protesters were arrested by police in riot gear, including two Unicorn Riot journalists. The crude oil pipeline is the subject of protest, in part, because environmentalists and the Standing Rock Sioux tribe claim its construction is destroying sacred sites and natural resources or risks damaging them.
Comment: Facebook is behaving more like an information gatekeeper for the PTB every day:
- Israel and Facebook working together to decide what the masses can see and read
- Facebook accused of bias in news curation
- Activists say Facebook removes potential evidence of police brutality too readily
- Controlling information: Facebook admits to censoring DNC email links
Comment: Disconnected society: Nature vandalism selfies are on the rise