Alabama riverboat captain reveals past ‘trouble’ with pontoon boat owners after brawl
The captain of the Harriott II riverboat revealed that he has had “trouble” in the past with the group who were arrested and charged with assault for their actions in the Montgomery waterfront brawl. A fight broke out over the weekend along the dock after a deckhand asked the owners of a pontoon boat to move it a few feet, so that the Harriott II—which was carrying 227 passengers—could safely dock. The pontoon boat was partially blocking the riverboat’s designated space, the Montgomery Police chief previously said. The exchange, which was captured on video, quickly got out of hand when one of the men on the pontoon boat allegedly started getting physical with the deckhand. Three men and one woman have so far been arrested in connection with the incident: Richard Roberts, 48, Allen Todd, 23, Zachary Shipman, 25, and Mary Todd, 21. Capt Jim Kittrell told Alabama’s 93.1 radio station that this wasn’t the first time he had encountered the group. “This is the same group that comes every year. They’re from Selma. And, we’ve had trouble with them in the past, but just like jokey things,” he stated. He went into further detail about the group, citing one example from a few years ago while talking on CNN on Thursday. When the group came to Montgomery, the captain recalled, after a cruise, the riverboat crew tried to retrive “our golf cart that we used to get people up the hills that are handicapped or elderly.” But it was nowhere to be found. Mr Kittrell said he received a call from the Embassy Suites Hotel, saying the golf cart is in the hotel lobby. After being shown video footage of the cart entering the lobby, he said they “find out who it is,” and he called his boss, who “wanted me to press charges” because the property belonged to the city. However, police talked him out of it. Mr Kittrell recounted the police telling him at the time that it was “juust a little prank. Just let it slide.” So they did. But this time, the police didn’t let it slide. Mr Roberts had already been in custody with the Selma Police Department, while Mr Todd and Mr Shipman turned themselves in on Wednesday evening. Mary Todd handed herself in on Thursday and has been charged with assault in the third degree. However, they are still trying to get in touch with Reggie Gray, whom the police chief has described as “wielding that folding chair” in videos, with footage showing him allegedly hitting multiple people over the head. The police chief announced they were looking for him on Tuesday; on Thursday, a spokesperson for the Montgomery Police told The Independent that investigators will “certainly” find Mr Gray. On Wednesday, Mr Kittrell said he believed the attack was driven by race. “The white guys that attacked my deckhand—and he was a senior deckhand first mate—I can’t think of any other reason they attacked him other than it being racially motivated,” he said. However, the captain said, after the initial attack on the deckhand, the rest of the brawl did not fall along racial lines. On CNN on Thursday, Mr Kittrell expanded on that claim, saying, “I saw it like everybody else saw it. It looks like White people attacking a Black man. But, he added, “I don’t know the hearts of those men...Now, I do know the hearts of my crew. And my crew was frustrated because they couldn’t get to the dock” and protect the deckhand, Damien Pickett. The captain said he took Mr Pickett to the hospital after the attack, and although “he’s still having some headaches and stuff,” he said the deckhand is “doing well.” Police said they did not find enough evidence to support hate crime charges. Read More Alabama riverfront brawl suspects finally turn themselves in Alabama dockside brawl was racially motivated, riverboat captain says Riverfront brawl brings unwelcome attention to historic civil rights city in Alabama
2023-08-11 22:00
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Kamala Harris takes over Biden’s schedule as he undergoes root canal
Vice President Kamala Harris will take over President Joe Biden’s schedule on Monday as the president undergoes a root canal after he experienced dental pain. A letter from Kevin O’Connor, the physician to the president, said that Mr Biden had experienced dental pain in his lower right premolar. “Our Presidential Dental Team from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center was able to perform an examination, to include x-rays, in the White House Dental Operatory,” the letter said. As a result, the team decided a root canal was appropriate. “He is experiencing further discomfort this morning, which was anticipated,” the letter said. “The endodontal specialty team from Walter Reed will complete the President's root canal today, at the White House.” As a result, Ms Harris will assume the president’s schedule. She will host College Athlete Day with both the men and women’s 2022-2023 NCAA Championship teams. It is unclear whether the president’s root canal is considered an emergency procedure or how long it will last or when it will take place. This would not be the first time that the vice president has taken on the president’s itinerary for health reasons. In November 2021, Mr Biden temporarily transferred power to Ms Harris when he invoked the 25th amendment of the US Constitution as he underwent a prostate exam. But the president will not undergo anesthesia and the 25th amendment will not be invoked during the root canal. Read More Biden to undergo root canal, will miss collegiate athletics event at White House US vice president announces more than $100M to help Caribbean during official visit to Bahamas Trump praises evangelical leader Pat Robertson after his death despite 2020 criticism
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Orcas have been bullying porpoises for years – and scientists are baffled
An orcas diet consists of Chinook salmon and can eat up to two dozen fish a day - so why is it that the killer whales like to bully porpoises despite them not being part of their diet? That's the question which has left scientists scratching their heads, as the study published in Marine Mammal Science seeks to add further understanding to this subject. Around 78 cases of orcas targeting porpoises were noted by researchers from the UK, USA and Canada. It was said to be happening in the Salish Sea (located in the Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. state of Washington). Some of the orcas' bullying tactics include pushing the porpoise along with their nose, holding the porpoise in their mouth, balancing the porpoise above water, slapping the porpoise with their tail, and raking the porpoise with their teeth, according to Science Alert. Killer whales also use porpoises as playthings as they catch them before letting them and proceeding to chase them once more - and they even play toss them around in a 'pass the porpoise' game, say whale watchers. That's some textbook tormenting. Out of these sightings, 28 of them have ended in the harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) or a Dall's porpoise being suspected to have been killed, though there's no record of the porpoises being eaten by the orcas. In terms of size, the porpoise is said to be fairly small being a similar size to a Chinook salmon - a large fish species that can grow up to 1.5 meters (5 feet). There are three theories that have been considered by the experts. Firstly, the bullying is all about creating coordination, and cohesion within the group of orcas, or alternatively that the orcas do this as a form of hunting practice. The final theory is that orcas could be trying to look after weak porpoises as if they were their own aka 'displaced epimeletic behaviour.' This mismothering behaviour – also known as 'displaced epimeletic behaviour' to scientists – might be due to their limited opportunities to look after youngsters as the stat shows. "Our research has shown that due to malnutrition, nearly 70 per cent of Southern Resident killer whale pregnancies have resulted in miscarriages or calves that died right away after birth." It seems that orcas are not the only bullies of the seas, as smaller dolphins e.g. bottlenose have similarly been seen harassing and killing for no clear reason. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.
2023-10-07 15:20
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