Safeway calls police on black woman giving food to homeless man

MOUNTAIN VIEW (KPIX) – Safeway employees in Mountain View called 911 when an African-American woman was donating food to the homeless because they thought she was shoplifting, according to police.

In her free time Erika Martin says she gives care packages to the homeless.
“It makes me feel good, you know,” said Martin.

One of them is a man who frequents the Safeway off Shoreline Boulevard in Mountain View.

“That day I decided to give him dog food for his dog,” said Martin.

That was a Sunday evening she’ll never forget.

“The police just blocks me in. I’m like, ‘what’s going on?’” said Martin.

Erica said she found herself suddenly defending herself to several officers who told her Safeway employees accused her of theft.

“Then she [the officer] was like ‘well, we were called here because you fit the description of someone taking items out of Safeway and bringing it back to your car’” said Martin.

Erika says Safeway workers thought she was conspiring with an African American man and that a group of kids were also shoplifting and bringing items to her car.

She says her little boy had gone to the deli to see if they were giving away cookie samples, as he’s done many times before, and was now sitting in their car, frightened and emotional.

“He was like crying because he thought they were there to arrest him,” said Martin.

The thing is, Martin never stepped foot inside Safeway. In fact, she says she never got out of her car.

Martin wasn’t wearing the shirt reported to police. She was wearing a religious shirt instead and claims she was listening to gospel music and talking to her sisters who had just dropped off items to a homeless man.

Martin’s sister recorded a video of the incident.

Police say Martin and her family were helpful and calm and realized Safeway workers got it all wrong.

“Racism still exists,” said Martin.

But she said the damage she was already done.

“I blame the Safeway employees and for them to do something like that to me is just hurtful and shameful,” said Martin. “I am not going back to that Safeway ever.”

Erika says to make matters worse, a Safeway store manager apologized and told her corporate would call her – she’s still waiting.

A Safeway spokesperson did respond to my request and said workers called police because a man who’d stolen before had returned, but they’re investigating why Erika was reported to the police.

SOURCE: https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2018/07/30/safeway-calls-911-black-woman-feeding-homeless/

The man who has seen more U.S. executions than anyone else

Michael Graczyk saw someone die for the first time in March 1984. Graczyk, a reporter with the Associated Press, walked into a Texas prison to watch the execution of James David Autry, who had been sentenced to death for killing a convenience store clerk four years earlier.

Graczyk watched as Autry — a 29-year-old known as Cowboy who had been convicted of killing Shirley Drouet, a mother of five — took his final breaths. It was the second time Graczyk had gone to the prison expecting to see Autry’s execution; a few months earlier, a Supreme Court reprieve halted the lethal injection with the needles already in Autry’s arms.
When it was over, after the lethal drugs were injected and after Autry’s eyes fluttered open one last time, Graczyk sat down to write his story. His dispatch was circulated to readers across Texas and the nation. He wrote about how Autry had unsuccessfully tried to have his execution aired on television and about the heavy fog outside the prison and about Autry’s final meal (a hamburger, fries and a Dr Pepper).
Not long after, Graczyk returned to the prison to

Politicians in France reportedly voted Monday in favor of a new law that would largely prohibit students from using smart devices on campus.

Students as old as 15 years old will not be allowed to use their smartphones, tablets and other similar items at school, unless they’re needed for lessons or after school activities AFP reported. Students with disabilities are not included in the ban.

MAN TRIED USING CELL PHONE AS SCOOTER HEADLIGHT, MAINE POLICE SAY

Secondary schools are reportedly given the choice to opt-in on the full ban or enforce a less strict version.

Critics of the legislation, who refrained from casting votes, decried it as being a “publicity stunt,” the outlet reported. Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer, on the other hand, reportedly argued that it modernized the country and brought them “into the 21st century.”

He argued that a 2010 law, which disallowed such devices from being used in class, was not strong enough, the report said.

Source: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2018/07/31/france-bans-smartphones-tablets-in-schools-report.html

Panera is launching double bread bowls — and fans are already in love

Panera will soon be testing out the double bread bowl which allows customers to not have to choose between two soups.
The double bread bowl will be released in August in Philadelphia locations.

Fans are in love and hope that the double bread bowl will be released nationwide soon.

Panera is the restaurant that just keeps giving and giving to carb lovers everywhere. First, the company announced that they would be rolling out four new cheesy items, including the Baja Mac & Cheese. And now, Panera has just revealed their latest food-forward invention: the double bread bowl.

The new option is a loaf of bread with not one, but two holes created in it, designed for ordering two different soups or mac and cheese. The double bread bowl comes in perfect time with fall right around the corner when soup consumption flourishes.

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McDonald’s Big Mac is turning 50, and it’s still America’s essential burger

.McDonald’s iconic Big Mac turns 50 this year.

.When it comes to the classic fast-food burger, nothing comes close to the Big Mac at McDonald’s.

.Like blue jeans and the iPhone, it has become a symbol of American culture around the world.

.The Big Mac’s main competitors are “better burger” chains like Shake Shack.

This year marks half a century of one of America’s most enduring legacies: The Big Mac.

On Sunday, the chain unveiled the MacCoin, a “global currency” that can be redeemed for a free burger at McDonald’s locations around the world. Customers can receive a MacCoin with the purchase of a Big Mac on Thursday, August 2, to be redeemed starting the next day at McDonald’s in more than 50 countries around the world.
“It’s not often that any food item is as relevant today as it was 50 years ago,” McDonald’s CEO Steve Easterbrook told Business Insider’s Kate Taylor in a recent interview.

Gourmands and chefs may quibble, but at the end of the day, nothing can beat the Big Mac on three crucial points: It’s cheap, it’s consistent, and it’s downright good.

It’s America’s burger. There’s even a museum dedicated to it in Pennsylvania.
I recently pit the signature burgers at Burger King, McDonald’s, and Wendy’s against each other in an unwavering, definitive, and entirely unscientific ranking.

Lo and behold, after the sesame seeds had settled, the glorious Big Mac came out on top.

So it caught me by surprise to learn that only one in five millennials has even tried the Big Mac. That’s according to a memo written by a McDonald’s franchisee, cited by The Wall Street Journal in 2016. According to the WSJ, Easterbrook said the company is beginning to rethink “legacy beliefs” as it looks to revitalize its stagnant share of the burger market.

Rethinking legacy beliefs? Is our savoriest national treasure in danger of being phased out?

Police chase ‘dead’ driver’s truck on foot to save his life

A police officer became a hero in just minutes after saving the life of a “dead” driver in South Carolina.

After the Kershaw County Sheriff’s Office received a report about a truck driving erratically on Wednesday, a narcotics officer spotted the vehicle.

The officer noticed that an elderly male was driving the truck — who appeared to be having a medical issue, according to Fox News.

Stu Williamson said he would love to snatch the title from Bryson William Verdun Hayes of Devon, England, who became the oldest man to perform a tandem parachute jump last year at 101 years and 38 days old, according to Guinness World Records. The Seattle man celebrated his 100th birthday by skydiving out of a plane, and says it is his new life mission to do it again next year, to become the world’s oldest skydiver.

InsideEdition.com’s Keleigh Nealon (http://twitter.com/KeleighNealon) has more.

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A judge ordered a man to pay $8.8 million to the husband of the woman he cheated with

A North Carolina judge ordered a man to pay $8.8 million for cheating with another man’s wife.

North Carolina is a state with so-called “jilted spouses” laws, which allows people to pursue monetary damages if they’ve been cheated on.
Keith King, who sued for the damages, said that Francisco Huizar III followed him and his wife around the country even after he had supposedly ended his affair with King’s wife.

Huizar’s attorney says King manipulated his wife throughout their marriage and made her work without pay.
A North Carolina judge ordered San Antonio resident Francisco Huizar III to pay Keith King $8.8 million for damages related to him having an affair with King’s wife.

North Carolina is one of the few states with so-called “alienation of affections,” or “jilted spouses” laws. These laws allow a deserted spouse to pursue damages against the third party that allegedly caused the separation.

The nearly $9 million ruling is among the largest ever. In 2011, another North Carolina judge ordered a woman to pay $30 million in a “jilted spouse” case.

In this case, Keith King, who runs BMX stunt bike shows around the country, sued Huizar for alienation of affection, as well as several other charges related to emotional distress, as reported by The Herald Sun. King holds Huizar responsible for splitting up the marriage between himself and Danielle King. Since Danielle King was also an employee of the BMX company, King also sued to cover lost revenue because of a lost employee, as well as money to cover increased costs on household help, child care, and counseling.

The ruling comes after a messy three-year separation process. Danielle King and Huizar met at a BMX show in August 2015 and began an affair shortly afterwards, according to court documents and testimony viewed by the Herald Sun. Keith King found out about the affair soon after, and told Huizar to leave his wife alone. But Huizar allegedly booked hotels rooms near the couple when they traveled, which according to Keith King, made it impossible for him to reconcile with his wife.

In her testimony, though, Danielle King said she’d been unhappy for the entirety of the marriage — since the couple were wed in 2010. After initiating her relationship with Huizar, she began the separation process from her husband in 2016, and has been fully separated from him since January 2017, according to the Herald Sun.

Cheri Patrick, Huizar’s attorney, also alleged that Keith King manipulated his wife throughout their marriage — controlling her access to money, snooping through her phone, making her work without pay, and making her work when she said she needed time for childcare. Patrick also claimed he insisted that she keep her hair blonde and wear bikinis and high heels.

Huizar plans to appeal the ruling, but he may have a difficult court fight. The loser in the $30 million 2011 “jilted spouses” case also appealed her case — and lost.

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LA-bound LeBron opens school in Akron as part of legacy

AKRON, Ohio (AP) — LeBron James is leaving home again and leaving behind something he says is more meaningful than any of his NBA championships.

James, who this month ended his second stay with the Cleveland Cavaliers by signing with the Los Angeles Lakers, has opened a public school for challenged children in his hometown.

The NBA great admitted to having “jitters” before the opening, an event he said is “going to be one of the greatest moments — if not the greatest — of my life.”

The I Promise School initially will house 240 third- and fourth-graders. The Akron school will expand each year, adding second and fifth grades next year and will have students from grades 1-8 by 2022.

James was to be at the school Monday to welcome students and make his first public comments since deciding to join the Lakers.

James spent 11 seasons with the Cavs, winning a title in 2016 to end Cleveland’s 52-year drought without a pro sports championship. His departure ended a four-year run with the Cavs after he returned in 2014 following four seasons with the Miami Heat.

Following his eighth straight appearance in the NBA Finals, James said he was still in “championship mode” as he headed into free agency. But he’s going to a Lakers team that missed the playoffs again last season and seems years away from competing for a title in the rugged Western Conference.

James was also drawn to Los Angeles by the appeal of playing for one of the league’s most storied programs and the chance to work with Hall of Famer Magic Johnson, the Lakers’ president and a player James idolized since he was a kid.

James also chose Los Angeles in part because it represents the next chapter in his life. He already owns homes there and he has a film production company in the city.

This man carried his dog up an escalator because it was scared and it will make your day

It must be tough being a dog sometimes. You know, constantly being dragged about by your owner, not given a choice about where you’re going or who you’re going there with.

At one point, this dog had enough and quite literally put its paw down.
When its hooman tried to make it walk up an escalator in a shopping mall, it just lay on the ground and point blank refused.

We don’t know why it refused exactly (we can’t read dogs’ minds), but it appears to have been scared of the huge moving staircase in front of it.

But this dog’s owner wasn’t put off. Instead of forcing his scared pooch up the escalator, he picked him up and carried him in his arms.
We can see why the video has been such a hit. The dog looks completely comfortable and relaxed in his master’s arms – almost resembling a big quadruped baby.

Many people were overjoyed by seeing the video on Twitter, and agreed that the doggy should be carried on the escalator.

-Some said they too spoil their pooches in a similar way. (see tweet)

-One made a good point that escalators are probably painful for pooch paws.(see tweet)

-Some empathised with the pooch.(see tweet)

-Yep, apparently doggies shouldn’t take escalators because they could get injured. (see tweet)

-Other dogs out there are more confident when it comes to escalators. (see tweet)

Whatever your take, there’s one thing that’s undeniable. Dogs are man’s best friend – but sometimes, we give them a helping hand (paw!?) too.

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