Man arrested for possession of firearm in FAMU residence hall
By Karl Etters, Editor. Photo provided by Leon County Sheriff's Department.
A man was arrested Tuesday at Florida
A&M University after a firearm was discovered in a dorm room.
Housing staff at Sampson Hall
notified the FAMU Police Department of a possible weapon after a health and
safety inspection allegedly revealed a .38 caliber pistol, which had a round in the
chamber and a full magazine, in a room in the residence hall according to the
police report.
Nathan G. Rivner
Nathan G. Rivner was charged with
possession of a firearm on school grounds and was released following first
appearance before a judge Wednesday morning on pretrial release.
FAMU spokesperson Pamela Tolson
was still trying to confirm whether Rivner is a student at press time.
A call to the Sampson Hall resident director was not immediately returned.
Arresting officer Derrick Folson
wrote in the report that Rivner admitted the weapon was his, which he said he
possessed “to protect himself and the woman he loves.”
Rivner also told Folson he had
“seen first- hand the violence of the streets,” but had no intent of harming
anyone and possessed the weapon for self defense.
According to the Campus Security
Annual Report for the 2012- 2013 school year, only five arrests related to
possession of weapons on campus have been made in on-campus residential
facilities since 2009.
It does not indicate what types of weapons were
connected to those arrests.
The FAMU student handbook states
that possession of a firearm on campus can result in punishment as small as a
letter of reprimand up to suspension.
Friday, a booklet designed by the Department of Homeland Security, "Active Shooter: How to Respond" was distributed across FAMU's campus. It promotes enhanced preparedness, identifying potential shooters and training tips for employees.
TALLAHASSEE, FL – A
string of unrelated dead dolphins in the Northern Gulf of Mexico has led
federal investigators to question the causes of their deaths and launch an
investigation with a $30,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.
In the past year, six dolphins have
washed ashore with bullet wounds, missing appendages and fins, but the cause of
the incidents has yet to be determined.
The most recent find was off the coast of Mississippi, the
animal had its lower jaw missing, while more incidents span other states like
Alabama and Louisiana. In June, one of the mammals was found in Alabama waters
with a screwdriver stabbed into its body.
“These are senseless, repugnant acts,” said Moby Solangi,
the executive director of the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies in Gulfport,
Miss. “These dolphins are mutilated in a way that no animal is in the wild.”
The penalty for killing a dolphin under the 1972 Marine
Mammal Protection Act can include jail time and a fine of up to $100,000.
A bottle-nose dolphin found in the waters off Mississippi with a gunshot wound, New York Times
Erin Fougeres, the
marine mammal stranding program administrator for the Southeast region for NOAA
said, “The increase in the animals in the Northern Gulf is something that we
haven't seen in the past, so that’s something unique about this situation.”
In Florida, there
were two dolphins found with gunshot wounds in 2006, but in the past five years
there have not been any reported cases of “mutilated” dolphins. Between 2002
and 2007 there were six reported cases in the Gulf, but since 2007 there have been
five, most occurring within the past two years.
In 2006 a Panama City
charter boat captain was sentenced to one year of probation and a $1,000 fine
for knowingly shooting at dolphins that came to his boat and attempted to steal
bait of freshly caught fish from his clients lines.
A similar case in
2007 landed Orange Beach, Ala., captain a $1,000 fine and two years of probation. But in 2009, a
Panama City commercial fisherman was sentenced to two years in prison, three
years of supervised probation and a $125 special assessment for attempting to
harm dolphins with pipe bombs.
One factor that could lead to more deaths of dolphins Fougeres said was the increase in humans feeding dolphins. The animals come to see people as a source of food creating more interaction between the two species, not always a wanted outcome like in the case of the commercial fisherman.
NOAA officials said
it is hard to determine whether instances happened pre- or post-mortem, making
it harder to pinpoint what or who is responsible.
There are too many factors that come into play to determine
at this time what or who is responsible. The gunshot wounds and screwdriver
incidents are definitely human related, but the missing appendages could have
happened any number of ways including being scavenged by sharks or other marine
life.
Fourgeres said the
one thing that could contribute to more reported cases is the broadness of the
network now and the increase in investigation into reported cases. She said
animals missing appendages could have become entangled in and cut from fishing
nets.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration official are
asking for the help of the public and fisherman in seeking to find the cause of
the incidents.
“We’ve had everything from anonymous faxes to anonymous
telephone calls,” said Jeff Radonski, the agency’s acting deputy special agent
in charge of law enforcement in the Southeast. “We’ve had spouses that are mad
at their husbands spout off. It’s the regular gamut that a normal police
officer deals with.”
“There is a great
implication out there that there’s a serial killer, killing dolphins,” said Kim
Amendola, NOAA’s Southeast region communications specialist. “Our federal
agents as well as our mammal experts don't feel there’s any link between the
most recent three dolphins that have been covered in the media.”
How dolphins can become beached
By Karl Etters with contributions form the New York Times
Eddie Jackson, The Famuan News Editor in the mid-1960s, and I. It was great to meet someone who once held my job in a much more tumultuous time to be a journalist.
TALLAHASSEE, FL - Car
makers Hyundai and Kia admit to overstating the potential gas mileage of
one-third, or 900,000, of their cars sold in the United States in the past two
years.
This comes at a time when car companies, both foreign and
domestic, are in a heated race to provide the most fuel-efficient vehicles and
to smear their competitors’ attempts at reaching the coveted 40 miles per
gallon that has become the new norm for gas mileage.
The companies, both owned by Hyundai Motor Group, came under
scrutiny by the Environmental Protection Agency after complaints were received
from several customers about the failure of their vehicles to perform at the
window-listed efficiency. Further tests by the EPA revealed that several models
were under-performing.
Hyundai cars awaiting shipment from S. Korea/The New York Times
“Although it took more than a year, the E.P.A. did catch the
discrepancies,” said auto research analyst John O’Dell.
The companies both placed blame on errors in testing
procedures that check aero-dynamics, drag and fuel used to drive the wheels and
engine. The cars ran on average six MPG less than the advertised rate.
Eleven models will have their rating stickers changed
including more popular models like the Hyundai Elantra and the Kia Rio. The Kia
Soul had the most drastic change; for the 2012 and 2013 models, the highway
mileage rating dropped at least five points for each version of the car.
“Given the importance of fuel efficiency to all of us, we’re
extremely sorry about these errors,” said John Krafcik, the chief executive of
Hyundai’s American operations.
In addition to apologizing for the misrepresentation, the
corporations will begin offering reimbursements for the fuel and money lost.
They will determine the amount of money lost by reading
customers’ odometers and calculating the increased spending compared to the
amount customers would have spent according to the mileage averages listed. A
15 percent inconvenience fee will also be attached. Calls placed to Hyundai America's communications department were not returned.
Customers can expect an average of $88 to be credited to a debit
card, a number based on a car with 15,000-miles that was overstated by 1 MPG on
the window sticker.
The companies now face rebuilding their reputations in an
industry where perception can be a big factor in the success of new models. Both
are beginning to run ads restating the gas mileage of their vehicles and
acknowledging their mistakes as well as replacing the window stickers on
remaining models.
“In an industry where reputation is so important, this will
undoubtedly give both car makers ugly black eyes,” O’Dell said.
Hyundai officials have not totaled the amount that will be
paid out, but it has been estimated in the tens of millions of dollars.
TALLAHASSEE, FL - The San
Francisco Giants battled through a lot to get to the World Series, particularly
in the post-season. After taunting elimination during the National League division
race against the Cincinnati Reds, and again in the National League Championship
Series against the St. Louis Cardinals, the Giants swept the Detroit Tigers in
four games to win the World Series, 4-3, Oct. 28.
The Tigers and the Giants went back-and-forth with scoring
and counter-defensive play that pushed the game into the 10th inning. Solid
defense, and a steady, tactful approach at the plate brought the Giants to
victory, but two instances set the mark, which the Tigers ultimately could not
match.
Former Florida State University catcher Buster Posey finally
turned his bat on, driving a two-run homerun in the sixth inning to push the
Giants ahead, 3-2. The Tigers replied in the bottom of the inning to tie.
Previously, Posey’s average bordered on grim , 12 for 60 in the post-season.
This marks the Giants second championship in three years.
The last time a team won the championship with a clear sweep was the Colorado
Rockies in 2007.
Posey, who is relatively new to the Majors, said the trip to
victory was nothing but a struggle.
“To get two in three years, it’s unbelievable,” said Posey,
who was a rookie in 2010. “I think this time around, I appreciate it even more,
because I understand the difficulty of doing it.”
Giants' catcher Buster Posey and pitcher Sergio Romo meet at the pitcher's mound after the final pitch of the Worlds Series
Tiger’s manager Jim Leyland said after the game that based
on the Giants’ performance the trophy ended up where it belonged. “Obviously
there was no doubt about it, they swept us,” Leyland said. “So there was
certainly no bad breaks, no fluke. I tip my hat to them. Simple, they did
better than we did.”
The Tigers hoped the momentum from their sweep of the New
York Yankees in the American League Championship Series would carry over into
the World Series. Some players were joyed just to be in the final test. “There
were a lot of beautiful things that happened this season,” said first baseman Prince
Fielder, who went 1 for 14 during the sweep, “and unfortunately we have to end
it with a loss in the World Series.”
The winning push came in the tenth inning when shortstop
Marco Scutaro hit a
two-run blooper to center field which designated hitter Ryan
Theriot capitalized on, scoring from second base, taking the lead.
Giants players celebrate Sunday after defeating the Detroit Tigers in the World Series. NPR
Scutaro said he had his doubts whether the ball would land
when it first came off the bat. “When I saw it, I said: ‘Please, get down.
Don’t stay up,’ ” Scutaro said of his hit. “When I saw it drop, it was, ‘Oh my
God.’ What a feeling.”
Posey's former catching coach at FSU, Mike Martin Jr., said he was proud of Posey, not only for his success in the major leagues.
He said there are a few skills Posey took away from FSU that he uses in every game.
"I'd say mental and physical toughness," Martin said. "That's kind of
a mark of our program here at Florida State is mentally and physically tough
and overcoming adversity, and obviously he's shown all of those qualities since
he's been in the major leagues. I think that, combined with the
teamwork aspect with what we try to instill in our guys, I think those are the
biggest things that he's taken way."
By Karl Etters
With contributions from The New York Times, Baseball Almanac
TALLAHASSEE, FL - European astronomers have discovered a new
planet that resembles Earth in some ways, but in other ways is very different. Found in the Alpha Centauri system, our Sun’s
closest neighbor, the planet has yet to be named. But the discovery has launched a number of
probes into the possibility of exploration of the region 4.4 light-years away.
“Very small planets are
rare,” said the planet’s discoverer graduate student Xavier Dumusque. “When you
find one small planet, you find others.”
Dumusque said there is a
possibility of other similar, but livable planets in the region.
The surface of the planet
measures in at a scorching 1,200 degrees, making the Earth-sized planet
uninhabitable.
Although the discovery is a
breakthrough, astronomers have been searching the region for many years; it
still requires a second discovery for conformation.
“The discovery that our
nearest neighbor has rocky planets is the story of the decade,” said Debra
Fischer, a Yale astronomer. “I’d bet $100 that there are other planets that are
there as well.”
Artists rendition of the Alpha Centauri system. www.nytimes.com
Dumusque and his colleagues
have tracked a host star in the region for the past four years, totaling 450
observations. They used a spectrograph that tracks magnetic movements in space
to pinpoint the location of the planet.
Exoplanet astronomer
Geoffrey Marcy at the University of California Berkley said the discovery could
jolt the space exploration program out of reduced funding and lack of interest.
He said what is necessary is a probe.
“What a great scientific
educational mission to have a probe out there, making its way decade after
decade,” Marcy said.
Marcy has been critical of
the space program’s lack of initiative in discovery within the Universe.
Alpha Centauri is a triple-star
system; one, Alpha Centauri A, is larger and brighter than our Sun; Alpha
Centauri B is smaller than our Sun and Proxima Centauri is the smallest and
closest to the size of Earth.
Alpha Centauri B is the
star that would provide the ideal conditions for creating water and supporting
life.
