A North Carolina man says he lost 2 fingers during a protest in 2020. Now he’s suing police
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — If Kyre Mitchell needs a reminder of the Charlotte protests arising from the 2020 murder of George Floyd, he need look no further than his right hand — specifically where his middle and ring fingers used to be.
Mitchell blames police and the City of Charlotte for what’s missing. Just before midnight on May 30, 2020, a “flashbang” grenade thrown by a police officer into an uptown bottleneck of Floyd protesters and bystanders detonated in Mitchell’s right hand as he attempted to throw it away, his new federal lawsuit claims.
The explosion blew off parts of two of his right fingers and severely burned the others as well as his palm.
Mitchell, a 29-year-old Charlotte-area artist, dancer and photographer, says the pain from the injuries continues to this day. He claims the damage to his hand either permanently prevents or limits his ability to work or take part in the activities he once loved.
—The Charlotte Observer
Space Shuttle Columbia launched for the last time 20 years ago in mission that ended in tragedy
ORLANDO, Fla. — It was a cool Thursday morning in Cape Canaveral as the nation’s first space shuttle was about to make its last ever trip into space.
Space Shuttle Columbia lifted off at 10:39 a.m. Eastern time on Jan. 16, 2003, from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39-A with a crew of seven.
"The Lord has blessed us with a beautiful day here," mission commander Rick Husband said over the radio just before liftoff. "We appreciate all of the hard work everyone has put into this, and we are ready to go."
Husband’s crew were shuttle pilot William McCool, Michael Anderson, David Brown, Kalpana Chawla, Laurel Clark and Ilan Ramon, who was the first Israeli to go into space.
All seven died 16 days later when the shuttle disintegrated on re-entry, the result of a chunk of insulating foam that had broken off from the external fuel tank and hit the left wing of the orbiter during the launch. The damage was fatal as the extreme heat would be the vessel’s demise as it streaked across the skies over Texas.
—Orlando Sentinel
Pennsylvania now has limits on forever chemicals, ahead of federal standards
PITTSBURGH — Pennsylvania has enacted a limit on two PFAS chemicals in drinking water, marking the first time the state has set its own limits instead of adopting a federal standard.
The state's Department of Environmental Protection in November proposed the rule that would limit perfluorooctane sulfonic acid, or PFOS, and perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, to 18 parts per trillion and 14 parts per trillion respectively, after sampling performed on more than 400 public water systems in Pennsylvania found detectable levels of those chemicals in more than a quarter of them.
PFAS — shorthand for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — is the umbrella term for about 6,000 man-made chemicals embedded in many products since the 1930s and 1940s. They've been added to cookware to make it nonstick, to carpeting, food packaging and firefighting foam, to name a few. The Pennsylvania rule regulates just two of the compounds, which as the most prevalent in the class.
Manufacturers have mostly phased out using these chemicals, but they remain present in air, soil and water because they do not break down, earning them the moniker of "forever chemicals."
—Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Turkish President Erdogan keeps the world guessing on NATO expansion
Six months after Turkey agreed to NATO allies inviting Sweden and Finland to join the alliance, the expansion has stalled as Ankara holds out on ratifying the applications.
Fresh tensions flared last week after protesters in Stockholm affiliated with Kurdish movements hanged an effigy of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, prompting Turkey to put yet more pressure on Sweden to crack down on outlawed groups.
Now, with a Turkish election due in June, and Erdogan hinting repeatedly that the vote could come in May to keep the opposition off-balance, the situation seems more in limbo — even if NATO diplomats are confident it will be resolved in the end, potentially in time for the alliance’s summit in Vilnius in July.
By now, 28 of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s 30 members have ratified the Nordic application, with Turkey and Hungary the lone holdouts.
—Bloomberg News
