Month: October 2021

Officials say that a freshman at the University of Kentucky died from alcohol toxicity Monday night after he was found unresponsive at his fraternity house. University police officers were called to FarmHouse Fraternity at about 6:22 p.m. Monday where Thomas Lofton Hazlewood, an 18-year-old fraternity member, was unresponsive. Hazlewood, an agricultural economics major. was taken to a hospital where he died.

The Fayette County Coroner’s Office said Hazlewood’s cause of death was “presumed alcohol toxicity” pending investigation, and the manner of death was ruled an accident. In a statement on Tuesday, the University of Kentucky said: “Foul play is not suspected, but police are investigating the circumstances of his death.”

FarmHouse Fraternity CEO Christian Wiggins said in a statement: “We are deeply saddened to learn of the loss of Thomas ‘Lofton’ Hazelwood, a new member of the University of Kentucky chapter of FarmHouse Fraternity. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends, and loved ones as well as the entire community. We have encouraged all members and new members to cooperate with any investigation prompted by Mr. Hazelwood’s death. The thoughts of the entire UK community are with his family and all those who knew him.”

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Former Secretary of State and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell died on Monday due to complications from COVID-19, his family said. He was 84. Powell’s family announced his death in a post to Facebook. Powell, 84, was fully vaccinated from Covid-19, his family said, and had been treated at Walter Reed National Medical Center. “We have lost a remarkable and loving husband, father, grandfather and a great American,” the family said. Powell had multiple myeloma, a cancer of a type of white blood cell. It’s unclear what complications he experienced from Covid-19 or when he tested positive for the disease.

Powell was born in 1937 in Harlem, New York, to immigrants from Jamaica and grew up in the South Bronx, going on to get a bachelor’s degree from the City College of New York. He became the first Black secretary of state under President George W. Bush.  After rising through the military ranks, Powell became a four-star general and then chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He had served as U.S. national security adviser and deputy national security adviser for President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s. Powell served twice in Vietnam — during the first tour, he was wounded in action and on the second tour, he received the Soldier’s Medal for rescuing several men from a burning helicopter..

Bush said in a statement on Monday that he and former first lady Laura Bush were deeply saddened by Powell’s death, adding: “He was a great public servant, starting with his time as a soldier during Vietnam. Many presidents relied on General Powell’s counsel and experience. He was such a favorite of presidents that he earned the Presidential Medal of Freedom — twice. He was highly respected at home and abroad. And most important, Colin was a family man and a friend.” Bush added that he and his wife sent Powell’s widow, Alma, and their three children “our sincere condolences as they remember the life of a great man.”

President Joe Biden ordered American flags at the White House lowered to half-staff in Powell’s honor, calling him a “patriot of unmatched honor and dignity.”  Biden said in a statement:  “He believed in the promise of America because he lived it. Colin was always someone who gave you his best and treated you with respect. Time and again, he put country before self, before party, before all else — in uniform and out — and it earned him the universal respect of the American people.” Despite serving Republican presidents, Powell broke with his party on several occasions in recent years, including when he endorsed Democratic Sen. Barack Obama for president in 2008 over Republican Sen. John McCain. Powell endorsed Obama again in 2012 over the GOP’s nominee that year, Mitt Romney, and later became a vocal critic of President Donald Trump.

Colin Powell is survived by his wife, Alma Powell, 83, and their three children.

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On Monday, the Justice Department filed an emergency application with the Supreme Court asking to it bar the implementation of a new Texas law banning most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. The application, signed by Acting U.S. Solicitor General Brian Fletcher, asks the high court to block the controversial Texas law known as ‘Senate Bill 8’ until legal challenges against it run their course.  The government said that Senate Bill 8 defies a “half a century” of Supreme Court precedents holding that “a state may not prohibit any woman from making the ultimate decision to terminate her pregnancy before viability.”  The DOJ argued that the Texas law violates the Court’s landmark rulings in Planned Parenthood vs. Casey and Roe vs. Wade “by banning abortion long before viability — indeed, before many women even realize they are pregnant.”

Monday’s filing comes after the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week sided against the Justice Department and allowed Texas’ abortion ban, the most restrictive in the nation, to stand. The three-judge panel ruled 2-1 Thursday against the Justice Department’s request to block the law on the grounds of it being unconstitutional, staying an earlier ruling by Judge Robert Pitman of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas.

The controversial law went into effect Sept. 1 banning physicians from performing abortions once cardiac activity of the fetus is detected, which generally occurs at around the six-week mark of a pregnancy and before many women even know they are pregnant. The ban is enforced by the public, who are incentivized to sue through civil court anyone who performs, aids or abets an abortion.

One person was killed and at seven others were injured in a shooting at Grambling State University in Louisiana on Sunday. The university said one non-student was killed, and at least one enrolled student was injured in the shooting which took place at 1:15 p.m. during a homecoming event. In a statement shared to Facebook, the University posted: “All persons present sheltered in place and were released once the all-clear was given by University Police.”   The university also canceled the remaining homecoming activities scheduled, and cancelled classes on Monday and Tuesday.  A curfew was also put into immediate effect from 9:30 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.

Sunday’s incident was the second fatal shooting on the campus this week. On Friday, state police issued an arrest warrant for a suspect in a shooting last Wednesday that killed 19-year-old Damarius Murphy and injured a 16-year-old. The university had increased security following the Wednesday shooting, informing students there would be “increased law enforcement presence” throughout the rest of the homecoming events.

Grambling State University President Rick Gallot issued a statement saying: “Our campus community has worked tirelessly to keep our students and others safe for the homecoming activities. Yet, with all of our planning and coordination with our local, parish, regional, and state law enforcement partners, we still find ourselves grieving the loss of life and injuries just as too many communities in our country have experienced as well.”

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According to officials, a Haitian gang with past abductions has been blamed for kidnapping a group at a Haitian airport that included 17 missionaries, five of them children. A source at the U.S. embassy said nineteen people were abducted by a gang at a checkpoint in Haiti during an airport run on Saturday. Sources at the Haitian presidential office said the kidnapping occurred at the intersection of “Carrefour Boen” and “La Tremblay 17”.

It is unclear where the victims were taken. The Embassy is working with a special group of Americans in the country who are investigating. 16 Americans and one Canadian, as well as two Haitian citizens, are included in the group. Two French priests were also kidnapped in a separate attack at the same location earlier in the day, the source said. The Haitian government suspects the gang known as 400 Mawozo to be responsible for the abductions.

The Ohio-based ministry Christian Aid Ministries confirmed that a group of 17 people were “abducted” while on a trip to an orphanage on Saturday, saying in a statement: “We request urgent prayer for the group of Christian Aid Ministries workers who were abducted while on a trip to visit an orphanage on Saturday, October 16. We are seeking God’s direction for a resolution, and authorities are seeking ways to help.”  The U.S. State Department said in a statement that it is “in regular contact with senior Haitian authorities and will continue to work with them and interagency partners. The welfare and safety of U.S. citizens abroad is one of the highest priorities of the Department of State.”

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