Latest news with #Gunter
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Five Augustans await sentencing for stolen mail, bank fraud, aggravated identity theft in separate cases
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) – Five Richmond County defendants face various prison sentences after pleading guilty to illegally possessing a master key for postal service mailboxes and other felony counts occurring in 2023. Davion Chelsea Easterling, 26, and Corey Jamario Gunter, 24, both of Augusta, await sentencing after pleading guilty to Aiding and Abetting Possession of a Stolen Mail Key. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, plea agreements subject each defendant to a statutory penalty of up to 10 years in prison, along with substantial financial penalties and up to three years of supervised release upon completion of any prison term. According to court documents, Easterling was employed by the U.S. Postal Service and shared a residence with Gunter. An investigation by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Richmond County Sheriff's Office in 2023, led to a search of their residence pursuant to a state search warrant, where investigators reportedly found large quantities of stolen mail and multiple postal bins, along with a master key used to access postal service boxes. The investigation revealed that mail was stolen from a USPS Blue Box, located at the U.S. Post Office, 3108 Peach Orchard Road in Augusta. U.S. District Court Judge J. Randal Hall will schedule sentencing hearings for Easterling and Gunter upon completion of pre-sentence investigations by U.S. Probation Services. Cameron Martinas Curry, 22, and Quavaun Enreco Rhodes, 22, both of Augusta, await sentencing after pleading guilty to Possession of a Stolen Mail Key, Possessing Stolen Mail Matter, Bank Fraud and Aggravated Identity Theft. Both face up to 30 years in prison, along with substantial financial penalties and up to five years of supervised release upon completion of any prison term. Curry and Rhodes were detained by the Columbia County Sheriff's Office for a traffic stop after suspecting that the defendants had stolen mail from a USPS Blue Box, located at the U.S. Post Office, 125 Commercial Boulevard in Martinez. Upon contact with the defendants, the deputies observed what appeared to be stolen U.S. Mail inside the vehicle. An investigation by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service determined that there was no forced entry on the USPS Blue Box. After searching the area, a pair of U.S. Postal Master Keys were found less than thirty yards from the vehicle. A federal search warrant was obtained for both defendants' phones and agents found several check images with a face value totaling $485,000. Court documents showed that text messages and screenshots revealed that they had stolen checks from the mail and had been depositing, altering or selling them for the Purpose of Bank Fraud or Identity Theft. U.S. District Court Judge Dudley H. Bowen will schedule sentencing hearings for Curry and Rhodes upon completion of pre-sentence investigations by U.S. Probation Services. Earl Demetrius Overton, 32, of Augusta, awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to Possession of a Firearm by a Prohibited Person, Bank Fraud, and Aggravated Identity Theft related to stolen mail. He faces up to 30 years in prison, along with substantial financial penalties and up to five years of supervised release upon completion of any prison term. Overton was arrested by RCSO, pursuant to an arrest warrant, while driving a vehicle. The defendant was reportedly found to be in possession of a firearm and is a prohibited person because of a previous felony conviction. A follow up search warrant of the defendant's home revealed numerous stolen checks, stolen mail, and various debit cards belonging to other people. Investigators revealed that Overton was stealing checks from the mail and depositing, altering or selling them for the purpose of Bank Fraud and Aggravated Identity Theft. U.S. District Court Judge J. Randal Hall will schedule a sentencing hearing for Overton upon completion of pre-sentence investigations by U.S. Probation Services. 'These cases are examples of individuals who made a decision to engage in criminal misconduct involving the U.S. mail that will not go unpunished,' said Rodney M. Hopkins, Inspector in Charge of the Atlanta Division. 'The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is committed to protecting our customers and preserving the integrity of the mail.' If you believe you are a victim of mail theft from the Martinez Post Office, or the Peach Orchard Road Post Office between the dates of March 1, 2023 and November 30, 2023, and you have not been contacted by the United States Attorney's Office, you can file a report by June 30, 2025, with the United States Postal Inspection Service at referencing USPIS Case Numbers 4183320-MT and 4207963-MT. This investigation is on-going. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Star
22-05-2025
- General
- The Star
QuickCheck: Has a double-decker bus ever jumped across London's Tower Bridge?
WHEN one first hears of it, it just sounds like something too crazy – or too much like something out of one of The Fast and Furious movies – to be true; one of London's iconic double-decker buses leaping across the gap made by the two halves of Tower Bridge as it opens to let shipping through. However, it has been claimed over the years that such an incident really happened. Is this true? VERDICT: TRUE Yes, such an incident happened on Dec 30, 1952, when bus driver Albert Gunter decided that speeding ahead was the safer option than stopping to well, mind the gap opening up in front of him. According to an account by the BBC of the incident, Gunter had only moments to react as there was no warning that the bridge was going to split into two – something it is designed to do to let ships through as they head up the River Thames. 'The traffic lights were green, there was no ringing of a warning hand-bell. He noticed the road in front of him seemed to be falling away. He, his bus, its 20 passengers and one conductor were on the edge of the southern bascule - a movable section of road - which was continuing to was too late to go back, too late to stop,' said BBC writer Bethan Bell in a Dec 2024 article on the incident. 'The former wartime tank-driver dropped down two gears, and slammed his foot on the accelerator,' added Bell. Bell then said – and cited – a Jan 1953 article by Time Magazine, which interviewed both Gunter and Peter Dunn, a passenger on the bus. "Everything happened terribly quickly. I realised that the part we were on was rising. It was horrifying. I felt we had to keep on or we might be flung into the river,' said Gunter. And as for Dunn's account, he said that 'before we knew it, we were going across Tower Bridge - but just as we had gone over the first half of the section that goes up, there was a loud crashing sound and I was thrown on to the floor." He added that once safely across, Gunter came around to invite the passengers to have a look at the gap. "He said that he had been a tank-driver during the war and that a tank would have had no trouble getting on to the other side and decided to see if a double-decker could do the same,' said Dunn. There were injuries, unfortunately; the conductor broke his leg and a passenger fractured their collarbone, but there were no deaths. So yes, one of London's famous double-decker buses can do a leap of faith across Tower Bridge if the situation warrants it – and a suitably-skilled driver is at the helm. SOURCES:
CBC
11-04-2025
- Health
- CBC
Author, gynecologist Jen Gunter says she's moving back to Canada as reproductive rights erode in U.S.
A Winnipeg-born gynecologist and bestselling author says she's had enough with the United States, but she's also prescribing a stark warning for Canadian voters concerned about the future of their own reproductive health care. Dr. Jen Gunter, whose books include The Vagina Bible and The Menopause Manifesto, has long been an outspoken women's health advocate, working to dispel myths around women's sexual health and bodies, and combat online misinformation. She's lived in the United States for three decades, but now says she's moving back to Canada. While that was always part of the plan, Gunter says her decision was sped up by U.S. President Donald Trump's return to the Oval Office earlier this year. "The absolute just gutting of health care, you know — it's day after day [that] we're hearing about some new horror about programs that are being slashed," Gunter, who plans to live in British Columbia, told CBC News in a Thursday interview from Los Angeles. "It was predictable, but it's still kind of horrific to see in real time." Gunter, who is currently living in California after previously spending time in Kansas, also said she feels she needs to leave Trump's America, as abortion restrictions intensify and put lives at risk. "I left Kansas because when I was practising there, they changed the law and we couldn't help people who were basically, you know, dying, ill and needed abortions," she said. "I've been watching this kind of erosion and erosion [of reproductive rights]." Gunter calls abortion access a canary in a coal mine, describing it as a way for governments to marginalize and control half the population. "I would say to every Canadian who is listening to this: You should be looking up the voting records of whoever you're voting for in the upcoming election and see how they have voted on bills related to reproductive rights," she said. "If they voted to take your reproductive rights away, they're going to vote to take other rights away as well." Increased interest in Canada from U.S. docs There has been a sharp rise in physicians signing up online to learn more about practising north of the border, according to Canadian Medical Association president Dr. Joss Reimer, who urged politicians to act fast in order to make it easier for U.S. doctors to move and work in Canada. "We've seen slashes to their research funding. We've seen trusted sources of information like the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] have their websites being controlled and manipulated by government," Reimer, a Winnipeg physician who was previously the medical lead of Manitoba's COVID-19 vaccine task force, told CBC News on Thursday. "We've also seen their data sets being altered in a way that makes it harder for us to trust the numbers that are coming out of their tracking." Although family doctors in the U.S. earn more than those in other countries, Reimer said that is sometimes not enough to keep them around. Provinces and territories that can offer less paperwork, more access to research and a more supportive environment for U.S. doctors will have an easier time attracting them, said Reimer. "That weighs a lot when someone's thinking about where they want to work." Canada needs to expedite immigration pathways for U.S. doctors interested in making the move while provinces sort out licensing issues, Reimer said. However, she added competitive pay and supportive work environments are also crucial to keep doctors in Canada. Gunter says she'd like to see a more permanent solution to ease licensing barriers for doctors who move interprovincially. "It doesn't make sense that you should have to re-apply [for licensure] between different provinces. I really feel there should be a national license." She isn't sure whether she'll practise again in Canada, but does know she wants to bring her skills back to her home country and make a difference. "I want to really take all of this 40 years of knowledge and say, 'These are some gaps, I'd like to help fill those,'" she said.
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Housing, homeless advocates meet with legislators on ‘NC Housing Day'
Rev. Dr. Latonya L. Agard, executive director of the North Carolina Coalition to End Homelessness. (Photo: Greg Childress/NC Newsline) On Wednesday, affordable housing advocates and those who support people experiencing homelessness spent the day in Raleigh making the case for additional funding to increase the state's housing supply and to expand programs that serve unhoused families and individuals. The goal of 'NC Housing Day' is to make housing a top priority for elected officials as they develop the state's two-year budget and legislative priorities for the rest of the year, advocates said during a press conference on Bicentennial Plaza. 'We're here talking to them [lawmakers] about funding housing and how these investments have to meet the scale of the need because currently, they do not,' said Stephanie Watkins-Cruz, director of housing policy for the N.C. Housing Coalition. Advocates also spoke with lawmakers about equitable disaster recovery funding and removing barriers to land use and development, Watkins-Cruz said. 'We're making sure that they know that they have the power to protect homeowners and renters,' she said. 'There's so much work to be done and the folks in this building [the Legislative Building] that we've elected have the power to make a lot of good change.' Samuel Gunter, executive director of the Housing Coalition, said there are 1.1 million families in North Carolina who are burdened by housing costs. According to the group's annual County Profiles, 48% of renters and 19% of homeowners in North Carolina pay more than 30% of their income on housing. Families that spend more than 30% of income on housing are considered cost-burdened. 'There are a lot of things that make housing and its affordability really complicated, but at its core, we're talking about a very simple math problem that has two variables; how much does your housing cost and how much does your household make?' Gunter said. 'That math gets impossible the further down you go on the income spectrum.' Making the math work for low-income families is a challenge for housing advocates everywhere, Gunter said. 'We believe that every North Carolinian deserves access to safe, stable and affordable housing,' Gunter said. 'It's foundational to educational success, to economic stability, to well-being and investing in that housing means supporting those families and individuals and local economies and ensuring our communities thrive.' Paul Reeves, interim president and CEO of Habitat for Humanity of North Carolina, said rising costs are pricing many families out of the housing market. 'Today many North Carolinians struggle to afford a safe place to call home and if they have a safe place to call home, they're struggling to stay in that safe place to call home,' Reeves said. He said the Housing Day event gave advocates an opportunity to amplify the need for strong affordable housing initiatives and policies and to brainstorm with lawmakers about how to tackle the housing crisis in North Carolina. The state is facing a five-year housing inventory gap of 764,478 units (322,360 rental units and 442,118 for-sale units), according to a recent statewide report commissioned by the NC Chamber Foundation, NC REALTORS and the N.C. Homebuilders Association. Homeless advocates take aim at bills Dr. Latonya Agard, executive director of the North Carolina Coalition to End Homelessness, said one representative asked her if she knows how many people are struggling with housing because of mental illness or drug addiction. 'My response to that representative was that I think we need to invert the question,' Agard said. 'The truth of the matter is that when people are housed, they are able to manage so many of the things that we consider to be detriments to our health.' Agard said the trauma of homelessness exacerbates underlying issues a person may have. 'That trauma leads to the other traumas people experience like increased mental illness or instability, like increased use of controlled substances or other things,' Agard said. The solutions, she said, are an adequate supply of affordable housing and wraparound services to address addiction and mental health issues. Agard noted that the Coalition to End Homelessness is advocating against House Bill 437, which establishes so-called drug-free homeless service zones and increases the punishment for committing certain drug offenses in such zones. The operators of facilities in such zones would also be subject to criminal charges and fines for violations, she said. 'I think this is unconscionable because it places an unfair burden on those facilities to increase security, to figure out what this means, to reestablish relationships that are trustworthy within the community,' Agard said. HB 437 is cosponsored by Republicans Heather Rhyne of Lincoln County, Allen Chesser of Nash County and Ray Pickett of Watauga County. The Coalition to End Homelessness also opposes Senate Bill 724, which would prohibit 'unauthorized street camping in public parks, rights-of-way, and other public spaces.' 'It's very important that we understand that the solution is not to sweep people out of encampments and place them in a designated area with no resources simply so they can be out of sight and out of mind,' Agard said. 'What we need is more affordable housing. What we need are wraparound services. What we need is compassion for those who are the least in our community.' SB 724 was filed by Republican Senators Ted Alexander of Cleveland County, Brad Overcash of Gaston County and Mike Lazzara or Onslow County. Counties or municipalities that do not comply with the law would not receive state funds for homelessness assistance, prevention or services. 'The General Assembly recognizes the risk presented by unauthorized street camping, including conduct that results in the proliferation of drugs and drug paraphernalia, threats of random acts of violence, and the spread of disease and detritus, a section of the bill reads. 'It is the intention of the General Assembly to protect the people of the State of North Carolina in public spaces and rights-of-way by enacting a prohibition on unauthorized camping in public spaces.' A similar Republican-backed bill filed last week — House Bill 781 — would make it unlawful for local governments to allow or authorize any person to 'regularly engage in public camping or sleeping on public property, including, but not limited to, public buildings or grounds and any public right-of-way.' HB 781 provides an exception that would allow local governments by 'majority vote' to designate local government-owned property located within its jurisdiction to be used for a 'continuous period of up to one year for public camping or sleeping purposes.' 'The criminalization of homelessness, even if unintentional, really is not addressing the problem,' Watkins-Cruz said during the Housing Coalition's weekly housing call. 'We need to be focusing on preventive solutions that meet the need rather than on outdated and ineffective policies that are actually more expensive and do not address the problem, which is access to safe and affordable housing.' Critics believe that HB 781 is backed by the Cicero Institute out of Texas, which has supported such bills in other states. The institute was founded by billionaire tech entrepreneur Joe Lonsdale, who has been critical of what he contends is a 'homeless industrial complex' whose members he alleges don't want to end homelessness in order to keep their jobs. HB 781 is cosponsored by four Republicans — Reps. Brian Biggs, Neal Jackson, Jennifer Balkcom and Mike Schietzelt — who represent parts of Randolph, Moore, Henderson, and Wake counties. Under the bill, counties or municipalities designating property for encampments must establish and maintain minimum stands and procedures designed to: Ensure the safety and security of the designated property and the persons lodging or residing on the property. Maintain sanitation, including, at a minimum, by providing access to clean and operable restrooms and running water. Coordinate with the county health department to provide access to behavioral health services, which must include substance abuse and mental health treatment resources. Prohibit illegal substance use and alcohol use on the designated property and enforce the prohibition against such use.
USA Today
24-03-2025
- USA Today
Why reusing your towel won't save the planet — and what actually might
Why reusing your towel won't save the planet — and what actually might Show Caption Hide Caption Rome considers tourist limits at Trevi Fountain to thwart overtourism Roman officials are looking at a proposal to tackle overtourism by limiting the amount of visitors at the Trevi Fountain in Italy. The tourism industry is making efforts to become more eco-friendly, but some companies engage in "greenwashing" by making misleading claims about their environmental practices. True sustainability in travel involves minimizing environmental impact, supporting local communities, and educating travelers. Travelers can identify greenwashing by looking for concrete evidence of a company's environmental efforts, such as third-party certifications and detailed impact reports. No single-use plastics. Don't wash your linens. Drink from a reusable water bottle. Turn off the lights when you're not in the room. The air conditioning stops if the sliding doors are open. These are just some common eco-friendly claims that hotels and other travel companies inundate travelers with. These actions seem valuable at first glance, given that the tourism industry accounts for approximately 8% of the world's carbon emissions, from transportation to food and energy consumption at hotels and on cruise ships, according to a 2018 study published in the Nature Climate Change journal. That number is only expected to grow. So, why wouldn't the travel industry jump on the green bandwagon? According to Sustainable Travel 2024 report, green practices are appealing to 83% of the more than 31,000 survey respondents who said sustainable travel is important to them. However, not all efforts are equal – or as meaningful. "It can be confusing because there are a lot of entities trying to tap into the popularity of those buzzwords, and in academia, sustainable development is a broad and vague term that means a lot of different things to different people, so it's very easy to exploit that," said Dr. Mike Gunter, a professor of political science department chair at Rollins College who specializes in eco-tourism. "In that case, it's kind of like a marketing ploy, you could say." I saw Fiji's magic myself. Here's how travelers can preserve the splendor for everyone. In these ploys, companies deceptively claim to be environmentally friendly without actually making a significant impact. The practice is known as greenwashing. For many travelers, it can be overwhelming to navigate messaging and determine who's truly following through on their promises. Here's how to figure out if a travel company is greenwashing or truly sustainable. Greenwashing vs sustainability While hanging up your towel so housekeeping doesn't toss it in the wash is "better than nothing," according to Gunter, it's also "not a deep or meaningful in ways true sustainable development would be." This is more of a PR move or a way to reduce a corporation's bottom line. This is the very scenario that prompted environmentalist Jay Westerveld to first coin the term greenwashing in a 1986 essay following an experience at a hotel in Fiji, according to the National Resources Defense Council. The hotel asked guests to reuse towels to protect the planet, but at the same time, it was clearing out island ecosystems for expansion. Gunter broke it down into three main concepts that if a company is doing this, it's on the right (and sustainable) path: A light footprint . This begins with how sustainable the hotel operates, such as using renewable energy, conserving water and sourcing food from local farmers and fishermen. It can also expand into a company's role in overtourism, like big cruise ships that can overwhelm port cities and how it supports and interacts with the local community. . This begins with how sustainable the hotel operates, such as using renewable energy, conserving water and sourcing food from local farmers and fishermen. It can also expand into a company's role in overtourism, like big cruise ships that can overwhelm port cities and how it supports and interacts with the local community. The money stays locally. On that note, travelers should think about where their money ultimately ends up, like it only the corporation benefits or profits trickle down throughout the community, such as to a local surf guide or ghost tour operator. On that note, travelers should think about where their money ultimately ends up, like it only the corporation benefits or profits trickle down throughout the community, such as to a local surf guide or ghost tour operator. An educational component. This is about what travelers learn on their trips – wildlife, ocean conservation or indigenous communities – and how they can bring that new awareness and knowledge when they return home. "We can take these lessons from our travels and apply them back to our homes and communities and, in some cases, lobby for those kinds of changes," Gunter said. A pioneer in the ecotourism industry who was named as a 2023 Meaningful Business Leader for her work aligning with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, Sarah Dusek thinks about sustainability this way: "How does this business become regenerative? How do we put back things that have been lost – not just how do we not take – but how could we use ecotourism to be a regenerative force in the world?" When Dusek started conceptualizing her newest company Few & Far, which takes guests on carbon-neutral safaris with local conservation nonprofits, she considered the least impactful ways to not only build her lodge but how it runs. Instead of importing wood, she's using invasive albizia trees for hardwood, which also removes it from harming the ecosystem while also regenerating the land by regrowing native grasses. The lodge will run on 100% solar energy and food for her trips is sourced within a 50-mile radius from local purveyors. For every traveler, Dusek tracks the carbon emissions of her trips – covered with a carbon offset fee. How to spot greenwashing Unfortunately, the travel industry doesn't always make it easy to decipher between greenwashing and a substantial impact. Websites and marketing campaigns like to throw out words like "green" and "eco-friendly," but it's tough to know what's truly being done. "It's hard to spot, to be able to differentiate greenwashing from really good practices," said Dusek. "I think one of the things for me is looking at how deep the initiatives are." Here are a few things travelers can look for to determine greenwashing: Find the evidence. There are several third-party accreditations that travelers can rely on, like Fair Life Tourism or B Corporation Certification, that vet and measure a company's impact on the culture, community and environment. There are several third-party accreditations that travelers can rely on, like Fair Life Tourism or B Corporation Certification, that vet and measure a company's impact on the culture, community and environment. Transparency goes a long way. If a travel company is truly making a difference, it will want to make its mission statement, impact numbers and reports easily accessible rather than only vague claims. "The biggest red flag for me is either no communication about any of these things or very surface-level communication," said Dusek. If a travel company is truly making a difference, it will want to make its mission statement, impact numbers and reports easily accessible rather than only vague claims. "The biggest red flag for me is either no communication about any of these things or very surface-level communication," said Dusek. Check the community partners. One way to see if a company is invested in the community is to check if it partners with local nonprofits, like the Malama Hawaii Program, in which hotels encourage visitors to pay it forward by teaming up with an organization for volunteer work in exchange for a free night or other perk. One way to see if a company is invested in the community is to check if it partners with local nonprofits, like the Malama Hawaii Program, in which hotels encourage visitors to pay it forward by teaming up with an organization for volunteer work in exchange for a free night or other perk. Ask an employee. If you call up the hotel or ask the front desk about its eco-initiatives, pay attention to how detailed their response is. "If it really is an embedded philosophy in the company, everybody will know what they do," Dusek said. While there is an onus on the travel industry to shrink its footprint, tackling a crisis as vast as climate change demands collective action from all industries. "Ecotourism is not a silver bullet to address sustainable development, climate change, or any of our overarching societal problems," Gunter said. "But it has remarkable potential to expand consciousness on the problem and tap into some of the ideological divides that we have in the U.S."
