Non Political Current Events Thread

[LeopardLetang]

Prostitution charges were filed against a woman after police say she was looking to charge a man $200 an hour for sex at the Rodeway Inn in Altoona.

Logan Township Police were called Monday night by a man claiming that 25-year-old Cortnie Figueroa, of Johnstown, had stolen a gun from him and had warrants out of Cambria County and she was currently in a room at the Rodeway Inn.

According to the criminal complaint, the man told police he used a site called “Skip the Games Altoona, Pennsylvania” to set up a fake account and message Figueroa about meeting up for sex to get her location.

Police report that they arrived at the motel where they found Figueroa, who tried using her sister’s name as her own. She allegedly admitted to smoking crack after giving police consent to search the room. Officers noted that they found a small amount of marijuana, a glass smoking pipe, three edibles, two capped needles, and a small baggie with white residue in the trash.

Through the investigation, police discovered that Figueroa was using the “Skip the Games Altoona, Pennsylvania” site to charge for discreet sex up to $200 an hour. She allegedly told police she didn’t make much money in Johnstown because “it’s Johnstown.”

Figueroa was placed under arrest and another blue baggie with a white powder was found on her body. Police said in the complaint that she said it was cocaine and it was hers.

Figueroa is now facing charges of promoting prostitution, providing a false name to law enforcement, and lesser drug charges. She was placed in Blair County Prison with bail set at 10% of $25,000.

https://www.wtaj.com/news/local-news/wo ... ona-motel/

My business was next door to that place for 16 years. It was a motel 6 until recently. Well known for drugs and prostitutes. Witnessed a couple ten police car busts of the place. Gave a pimp and girl a ride one time. Never gave us trouble but bums would sleep in the woods next to our buildings which scared employees. I showed these young cops their mini tent setup and the aholes started trashing it throwing their stuff in the creek like it was so fun. I'm thinking these bums are gonna come back to nowhere to sleep and break into my shed now or blame us and damage our stuff.

[AuthorTony]

Innocent Michigan Man, 71, Walks Free After 2 Decades in Prison Thanks to True Crime Coverage of His Case

https://www.insideedition.com/innocent- ... age-of-his

I watched the ID true crime series that featured this guys case. It seemed nearly impossible that he committed the murders. So glad he'd finally been freed, even though it cost him 20+ years of freedom.

[Ad@m]

@AuthorTony

This isn’t that far from you, is it?

[AuthorTony]

Not far at all. The fire sirens have been going off all morning and multiple trucks have sped by my place. Sure looks like a total loss.

The wind is absolutely insane here this morning, so I'm sure that's not helping.

[dodint]

It's Somerset, how can you tell.

[AuthorTony]

It's Somerset, how can you tell.

ba da bum tss.gif

[RonnieFranchise]

Hey Norfolk Southern get your **** together.

Another derailment in Ohio. WTAF.

[MR25]

Apparently the stat for derailments in the US is one every 8 hours. Just happens that we're hearing about more of them because of the news surrounding East Palestine.

[faftorial]

How about congress look at current laws regulating the rail industry and how to improve safety.

[Ad@m]

[dodint]

Is she a villain in a spy thriller?

[Dickie Dunn]

Four US citizens were assaulted and kidnapped after crossing the border into northeastern Mexico on Friday, according to the FBI, which is working to locate the missing Americans.

Soon after the US citizens drove into the border city of Matamoros, Mexico, on Friday, they were fired upon by unidentified gunmen, a release from the FBI in San Antonio said. The agency did not identify the victims.

“All four Americans were placed in a vehicle and taken from the scene by armed men,” the release said.

The US citizens were driving a white minivan with North Carolina license plates, according to the FBI.

You would have to either be involved in some illegal stuff or be an absolute **** moron to drive into Matamoros.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/06/americas ... index.html

[NTP66]

lol, that's near where my wife's grandparents lived (Harlingen, TX).

[RonnieFranchise]

@AuthorTony

This isn’t that far from you, is it?

Kings and Queens- is that where the drag shows were?

[DigitalGypsy66]

Four US citizens were assaulted and kidnapped after crossing the border into northeastern Mexico on Friday, according to the FBI, which is working to locate the missing Americans.

Soon after the US citizens drove into the border city of Matamoros, Mexico, on Friday, they were fired upon by unidentified gunmen, a release from the FBI in San Antonio said. The agency did not identify the victims.

“All four Americans were placed in a vehicle and taken from the scene by armed men,” the release said.

The US citizens were driving a white minivan with North Carolina license plates, according to the FBI.

You would have to either be involved in some illegal stuff or be an absolute **** moron to drive into Matamoros.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/06/americas ... index.html

One of the four was going to get a tummy tuck, according to the AP and the BBC. They were probably mistaken for Haitian drug smugglers. And one of the kidnapped is local to me.

Four Americans kidnapped by heavily armed men in Matamoros, Mexico, had travelled there for cosmetic surgery, relatives told US media.

One of them was to have a tummy tuck - removing abdominal fat - in a border town, said the sister of one of them.

"To see a member of your family thrown in the back of a truck and dragged, it is just unbelievable," Zalandria Brown, told AP about her brother Zindell.

A Mexican woman was killed in the incident.

The FBI has offered a $50,000 (£42,000) reward for the return of the Americans.

The other people in the group have been identified in US media as Latavia McGee - a mother of six, according to CNN - Shaeed Woodard and Eric James Williams.

They were driving through Matamoros - a city of 500,000 located directly across the border from the Texas town of Brownsville - in a white minivan with North Carolina licence plates when unidentified gunmen opened fire, the FBI said.

Video shows them being put in a pickup truck by heavily armed men. One is manhandled onto the vehicle while others appear to be unconscious and are dragged to the truck.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador described the incident as a "confrontation between armed groups". He said his "entire government" was working to secure the Americans' release.

According to an unnamed US official quoted by CNN, investigators believe a Mexican cartel probably mistook the Americans for Haitian drug smugglers.

Barbara Burgess, Ms McGee's mother, told ABC news that she had warned her daughter not to go but her daughter told her: "Ma, I'll be OK."

On Friday her daughter called her to say she was about to go to the appointment for the tummy tuck operation, also known as an abdominoplasty.

When Barbara Burgess called her back later that day, the phone went to voicemail.

Ms Brown said her brother, who lives in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, had been aware that parts of Mexico could be dangerous.

"Zindell kept saying, 'We shouldn't go down'," she told AP, adding that it was "like a bad dream you wish you could wake up from".

Matamoros is in Tamaulipas state, one of six Mexican states that the US State Department advises travellers not to visit because of "crime and kidnapping".

Drug cartels control much of the territory and often hold more power than local law enforcement.

The US government says hundreds of thousands of Americans cross the border into Mexico each year to receive healthcare services in search of cheaper treatments.

Mexico is one of the top medical tourism destinations around the world, while cosmetic surgery is one of the top procedures patients seek abroad, according to Patients Beyond Borders, a medical tourism guidebook.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canad ... e=web_link

[Ad@m]

[shafnutz05]

Even more stupid than originally thought--for sketchy cosmetic procedures.

[shoeshine boy]

Even more stupid than originally thought--for sketchy cosmetic procedures.

"Her other cousin, who previously went with her to Matamoros for the first procedure, made a post asking if anyone's heard from her,” Washington McGee’s friend told CNN.

and not even the first time. mother of 6 kids and willing to take a HUGE risk, in more ways than one, because you want to be thinner.
hell YES, I'm judging her.

[shafnutz05]

15th and Chestnut...right in the heart of Center City

Probably all under 17 too.

[Shyster]

I'm not an antitrust guy, but I'm having some trouble seeing why the DOJ today sued to block the proposed merger between JetBlue and Spirit. First, the DOJ has consistently signed off on larger mergers, including American and USAir, United and Continental, and Delta and Northwest. Even Southwest buying AirTran resulted in a larger airline than JetBlue buying Spirit. Second, given that American, United, Delta, and Southwest already control 80% of the US market, so literally everyone else offering mainline-type service (JetBlue, Spirit, Frontier, Alaska, Hawaiian, Sun Country, and Breeze) only has 20%, I question whether the merger would have any significant anticompetitive effect.

[tifosi77]

What would this merger do to the competition within that 20% segment? How would it impact Frontier, Alaska, Hawaiian, etc?

[Shyster]

I'm not sure it would impact the others very much. The DOJ complaint is focusing mostly on the impact on specific city pairs, which are mostly flights from the northeast to Florida and Puerto Rico, and particularly Fort Lauderdale. That seems like it might be a fairly narrow definition of "market" for the antitrust analysis (I vaguely remember some antitrust stuff from law school, but not well). I'd be interested to see any commentary from antitrust lawyers who are familiar with the airline industry.

[shafnutz05]

I saw a photo of the new cracker plant in Beaver. That thing is an eyesore.

[nocera]

I saw a photo of the new cracker plant in Beaver. That thing is an eyesore.

Aren’t there already enough crackers in Beaver?

[Shyster]

The Biden administration has decided to stick with the classic livery. The (very minor) changes: (1) the light blue parts are slightly darker in hue; (2) the old livery has a shiny bare-metal stripe in front of the wing that the new one won't have; and (3) the engine nacelles on the new livery are the darker "upper half" blue, where on the old livery they were the "lower half" lighter blue.