Bits and Bites from Around the World > Woman drowns mini-schnauzer in airport bathroom; Bats takeover N.B. high school

 

Florida woman drowned her dog in

Orlando airport bathroom

A Florida woman has been accused of drowning her dog in an airport bathroom after she learned she could not take it on a flight with her.

The investigation into the death of the 9-year-old miniature schnauzer started when a janitor found the dog in a garbage bag in a bathroom stall at Orlando International Airport.

File photo

In an arrest affidavit, the Orlando Police Department wrote that 57-year-old Alison Lawrence arrived at the airport on Dec. 16, 2024, with her dog, Tywinn, for a flight to Colombia.

The affidavit claims that Lawrence was denied boarding at her gate due to improper travel paperwork for her pet. Police allege she then took the dog to a nearby bathroom and drowned it in a toilet.

A woman who was working at the time told police she saw a woman, later identified as Lawrence, sitting on the bathroom floor of a stall, cleaning up a large amount of water and dog food.

The employee said she had to tend to an emergency elsewhere, and when she returned, she saw Lawrence exit the stall and leave with a purse and suitcase.

That’s when the employee removed the trash bag from the canister and found the dog, the affidavit says.

The dog’s tags had Lawrence’s name and contact information on it, police said.

According to police, surveillance footage captured Lawrence entering the airport with her dog, and later exiting the bathroom without the dog and then later seen at her gate.

Authorities said the woman had been told she could not bring her dog aboard because she did not have the proper paperwork. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, dogs travelling from the U.S. to Colombia must be accompanied by a veterinarian-issued health certificate and a rabies vaccination certificate.

The dog was identified by its implanted microchip and a necropsy determined that Tywinn had been drowned. U.S. Customs and Border Protection also confirmed to detectives that the woman had boarded a flight to Bogota, Colombia, and then flew to Ecuador.

Lawrence was taken into custody Tuesday in Lake County, Fla., and charged with aggravated animal cruelty, a third-degree felony.

She’s since posted a US$5,000 bond, police confirmed.

Animal cruelty charges in Florida can result in up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

— With files from The Associated Press

Bats take over this New Brunswick school.

Some students say they were even chased

By Rebecca Lau & Anna Mandin  Global News

Posted March 22, 2025 2:00 am

 Updated March 21, 2025 2:43 pm

 3 min read

Some New Brunswick students have been literally dodging bats — the flying creatures — while their high school deals with an infestation.

More than two dozen of the winged animals have been found inside Tobique Valley High School’s walls in Plaster Rock, N.B.

Grade 7 student Teagan O’Neil-Gamblin said he first spotted a bat last Friday, after a classmate came running into the classroom to escape.

“I went to the bathroom right when she came in, and I saw (the bat) in the corner of the hallway, and it was like upside down, sleeping-looking almost,” he said.

His mother, Crystal O’Neil, said another parent reached out to her and reported that her child was “chased down the hallway on Friday.”

“As a result, these sonar machines were turned on Friday and it kind of woke the bats out of hibernation,” said O’Neil.

“And it made them a little bit crazy. And then the building’s closed all weekend.”

By Monday, word was spreading about the bats.

“We went to first period and an announcement came that we needed to shut our doors because bats are roaming around.,” O’Neil-Gamblin said.

“We had to shut our doors throughout the whole entire day.”

He said at that point, staff told students 10 bats had been found.

By Tuesday, nerves were on end.

“Tuesday I was really hoping there was no school, but then there was school,” he said  “A teacher came here and told us that the issue was gone. And if we have any questions to ask, then sort of talk about it in the hallways and stuff.”

His mother said students were told to stay inside classrooms on Thursday again, however, after yet another student was chased by a bat.

“I’m grateful that nobody’s been bit. But I think it’s only going to be a matter of time before somebody is going to be bit,” she said.

“Bats are known for many, many diseases. And it’s just not something I want my children to be touching or involved in in any way.”

She’s also concerned about air quality. Parents have heard there is guano, or bat feces, in the school’s attic.

“The ventilation is a huge, huge concern that most parents have,” she said.

“They’re concerned with these bats being awake — if they do have for diseases, if rabies is a problem, they’re concerned that children will be bit.”

In an emailed statement, Anglophone School District West confirmed about 28 bats have been removed.

“Many were found in areas away from the school population. We have engaged with third party companies to inspect and assess for the presence of guano and to provide abatement solutions to prevent future issues,” wrote spokesperson Paul MacIntosh.

MacIntosh also said the attic space has no impact on the school’s ventilation.

Meanwhile, the New Brunswick Teachers’ Federation told Global News it will “remain vigilant in monitoring the school district’s response” and said it is the employer’s “obligation” to protect the health and safety of all.

O’Neil said she and other parents are advocating for the school to be shut down and the problem properly dealt with.

She has two children who attend the school and don’t want to miss classes because the workload in high school is so demanding, but she’s worried about their concentration levels and health.

“Nobody is learning any math or English in the building when all this is going on, so it’s best to just shut it down, clean it up, and then everybody’s minds will be at ease and they can concentrate better in the building,” she said.

Child's Amazing Testimony of Jesus

..

Boy Says Jesus Held Him in a Pool Drowning Accident,

Asks Why Jesus Has ‘Scratches on His Hands?’

'We had never spoken to him about God's hands, ever, 

and the way he described Jesus was just chilling,' the mom says.

BY LOUISE CHAMBERS TIME

JUNE 13, 2023

Max McKee in the arms of Jesus

A Louisiana toddler who nearly drowned in his grandmother’s pool awoke the following day in the hospital with a miraculous memory: being held in the arms of Jesus after falling in the water. He later asked his parents why Jesus has “scratches on his hands?”

The grateful parents credit the power of prayer for their son’s recovery.

Registered nurse Courtney McKee lives in Louisiana with her husband, Brandon, and sons Brody and Max. Max, now 6, was just 2 years and 10 months old when he suffered a near-fatal drowning accident on July 11, 2019.

“It happened here in Louisiana at my mother’s house,” Courtney told The Epoch Times. “It was a beautiful sunny day. [Max] was with my mother and my sister-in-law, with Brody, his older brother, and then another cousin that was playing. I was at work at the hospital. He got out of the pool and wanted to play, so my mom was letting him play a few feet away from her. Then they realized he wasn’t playing anymore.”

Courtney McKee with her husband, Brandon, and sons, Brody and Max. (Courtesy of Courtney McKee)

The Drowning

Max had been wearing floats in the pool as he did not know how to swim at the time. Leaving the pool, his grandma had helped him remove the floats.

“I think he returned to the pool to get some water and a small bucket to play with, they’re not really sure. When he leaned over to get the water, that’s when he might have fell in,” Courtney said.

Courtney’s sister-in-law found Max at the bottom of the pool, unconscious. No one knows exactly how long he was under. Courtney received a panicked call at work and quickly knew something was wrong when she heard sirens in the background.

“I started crying and I remember my coworkers, fellow nurses and doctors alike, surrounded me,” she said. “One of them took my phone and started talking for me. … I was so numb, I couldn’t even speak.”

Max was admitted to Rapides Regional Medical Center in Louisiana with his lungs swollen and full of fluid.

Epoch Times Photo

(Courtesy of Courtney McKee)

“He was in severe respiratory distress,” Courtney said. “I was standing in the ER when they brought him in, and they surrounded him and began to work on him. I just remember, being a nurse myself, it was terrifying to watch it happen to my own child.”

Max was resuscitated and taken to the hospital’s pediatric intensive care unit on high-flow oxygen. His parents and care team waited with bated breath to see if their efforts had been quick enough to prevent brain damage.

The ‘Ultimate Physician’

As Courtney wept with her still-sleeping toddler in her arms, her community caught wind of the accident and prayed for Max’s recovery. Loved ones came to Max’s hospital bedside to pray in person.

Courtney and Brandon have always taken their sons to church. They pray together and read Bible stories every night. When Max drowned, the first thing that big brother Brody did was kneel by the pool and pray. The day before Max’s accident, Courtney felt an urgent need to pray for their children, pleading with Jesus to save her babies.

In the hospital, Courtney had to separate herself from her nurse’s knowledge and place her faith in “the ultimate physician,” Jesus. She felt blessed for the “God-ordained” care team that watched over her son. The next morning, Max came to and showed signs that he was his usual self despite his massive ordeal.

“He was a little agitated because he wanted the cords and wires off of him. But he was talking and communicating with us, and we knew at that point he was going to be okay. He was aware of what happened,” Courtney said. “He was in the ICU for a few days. … We had to see the pediatrician regularly after that: no deficits, nothing wrong with him after the drowning.”

‘Jesus Held Me’

Days after returning home from hospital, Max had another massive shock for his parents.

Courtney said: “He just looked at his father and I and he said, ‘When I was in the pool, I wasn’t scared.’ I told him, ‘That’s really good, buddy, I’m proud you weren’t scared,’ and he said, ‘When I was in the pool, Jesus held me.’

“Then he asked us, ‘Why does He have bobos and scratches on His hands?’ I was completely stunned. I just asked him to repeat himself to make sure I was hearing it right. We had never spoken to him about God’s hands, ever, and the way he described Jesus was just chilling.”

Courtney knew that her baby had been held that day and was joyful; she has since heard from several parents who have lost a child that Max’s testimony has given them comfort. “I think it’s something I want people to take away, miracles still happen today. God is real,” Courtney said.

In 2021, a little over a year after his accident, Max went to an art camp with his brother and asked to draw a special picture in collaboration with artist Anna Dieter Rachal. He wanted to draw himself in Jesus’s arms, in the water. Max later told his mom as she hung the drawing on the fridge, “Mommy, he holds ALL the kids that fall in the water.”

The Power of Prayer

Drowning is among the leading causes of death in children aged 5 and under in the United States, and it can take as little as 30 seconds for a child to drown. Courtney, who has counseled her eldest, Brody, after he witnessed Max’s ordeal, knows that the siblings of children who drown are also affected.

It took around a year for Max to regain the courage to go near water. He has since had swimming lessons and knows how to rescue himself if he falls in. “It was a lengthy process because he was scared, so the instructor was very sensitive to what he had went through,” Courtney said, describing now-6-year-old Max as “full of energy, happy, joyful, and curious.”

The family has shared Max’s testimony with their church and the world through international media, and Max is willing to talk about it with anybody who asks questions.

“More than anything, I think I want people to know that there’s power in prayer,” Courtney said. “Also something I want people to take away from this is that drownings in children are common, and even in a small lapse in supervision, a child can return to the pool. Never take your eyes off the water and never think it can’t happen to you.”

But if it does, remember, Jesus is there.

=============================================================================================

75 Years Since the Struma Disaster

Disaster? Or an atrocity committed by everyone involved?

Remember, these were people trying desperately to escape the Holocaust.
One of the most successful massacres of Jews during WWII,
and not a single German in sight!

In December 1941, 769 Jewish passengers boarded the MV Struma, a ship that was to set sail from Axis-allied Romania to seek refuge in Israel. 

The passengers each paid an exuberant amount and were promised a luxurious ship that would transport them to Israel; however, when they reached the boat, they discovered that the Struma was in fact an old dilapidated vessel, containing one bathroom, no kitchen, and hardly any space. 

She was built in 1867 as a British marquess's luxury steam yacht and ended 75 years later as a Greek and Bulgarian diesel ship for carrying livestock. Wikipedia.

After a three day journey filled with engine failures, the Struma arrived at Turkey, where they were told they would be going to pick up their immigration certificates – but there were no immigration certificates to be found. The Turks refused to let the ship board, and towed the broken ship to a quarantine section while they figured out what to do with them.

Lloyd's Register of Shipping lists her as still having her steam engine in 1934, but within a few years it had been replaced with a three-cylinder marine diesel engine built by Benz & Cie. of Mannheim in Germany. Some sources claim that the diesel engine had been salvaged from a wreck sunk in the Danube. 

In 1941 the New Zionist Organisation and the Betar Zionist youth movement chartered Struma from Jean Pandelis to take Jewish refugees from Romania to Palestine. On 12 December 1941 she left the port of Constanța in Romania carrying 10 crew and about 781 refugees. 

Her diesel engine was not working so a tug towed Struma out to sea. She drifted overnight while her crew tried in vain to start her engine. She transmitted distress signals and on 13 December the tug returned and the tug's crew repaired Struma's engine in exchange for the passenger's wedding rings. Struma then got under way but by 15 December her engine had failed again and she was towed into Istanbul in Turkey.

The British refused to let the ship sail to Mandatory Palestine, and Romania refused to allow them return. While Turkey was deliberating what to do, the boat remained anchored and isolated for ten weeks, its passengers suffering from starvation inhumane conditions.

While Turkish mechanics made unsuccessful attempts to repair Struma's engine, there was a 10-week impasse between British diplomats and Turkish officials over the fate of the refugees. Because of Arab and Zionist unrest in Palestine, Britain was determined to minimise Jewish immigration to Palestine under the terms of the White Paper of 1939. Under pressure from Britain, Turkey denied the refugees permission to come ashore. One pregnant refugee who suffered a miscarriage was allowed to disembark and admitted to an Istanbul hospital.

Reaching no agreement with England and Romania, the Turkish government decided to tow the Struma out of Turkish waters and into the Black Sea, where they left the inoperative ship and its passengers to rot with no fresh water, food, or fuel.

After just a few hours of drifting on February 24, 1942, a Russian ship torpedoed the Struma, killing all but one of the passengers on board.

On 23 February 1942 Turkish authorities boarded Struma. Her engine still did not work so they towed her back out into the Black Sea and cast her adrift about 10 miles off Istanbul. On the morning of 24 February the Soviet submarine Shch-213 torpedoed her. Struma sank quickly and many people were trapped below decks and drowned. 

Many others aboard survived the sinking and clung to pieces of wreckage, but for hours no rescue came and all but one of them died from drowning or hypothermia. Struma's First Officer clung to a piece of wreckage that was floating in the sea along with a 19-year-old refugee, David Stoliar. The officer died overnight but Turks in a rowing boat rescued Stoliar the next day: the only survivor of about 791 people who were aboard.

May their memories be a blessing.

And may their memories bruise the consciences of every man and woman who hates Jews. This is what Jew-haters are capable of. May God have mercy on their souls.

U.N.: Smuggler 'Pushed' Migrants Off Boat, Killing Dozens

By Danielle Haynes  

International Organization for Migration staff assist Somali and Ethiopian migrants who were forced into the sea by smugglers on Wednesday. Photo courtesy they U.N. Migration Agency

(UPI) -- A human smuggler forced more than 120 Somali and Ethiopian migrants into the sea as their boat approached the Yemeni coast, killing at least 29 people, the United Nations' migration agency said Wednesday.

The International Organization for Migration said its representatives found the shallow graves of 29 people on a beach in Shabwa, a Yemeni governorate along the Arabian Sea, during a routine patrol Wednesday. Those who survived the incident rapidly buried the dead upon reaching the shore.

The IOM said at least 22 people were unaccounted for after being forced into the sea, and medical staff provided healthcare to 27 survivors. Others left the beach before assistance arrived.

"The survivors told our colleagues on the beach that the smuggler pushed them to the sea, when he saw some 'authority types' near the coast," said Laurent de Boeck, the IOM Yemen chief of mission. "They also told us that the smuggler has already returned to Somalia to continue his business and pick up more migrants to bring to Yemen on the same route. This is shocking and inhumane. The suffering of migrants on this migration route is enormous. Too many young people pay smugglers with the false hope of a better future."

In Yemen? Seriously?

The IOM estimates about 55,000 migrants have left the Horn of Africa to travel to Yemen since the beginning of the year. More than 30,000 of them are under the age of 18 and from Somalia or Ethiopia. The average age of the passengers on the boat Wednesday was 16.

"This journey is especially hazardous during the current windy season in the Indian Ocean," an IOM release said. "Smugglers are active in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, offering fake promises to vulnerable migrants."

Italian Police: Muslim Migrants Threw Christians Overboard Again

BY RALPH SIDWAY
Jihad Watch

This crime is identical to this story from back in April 2015. How many such Muslim attacks on migrant Christians go unreported?

I (Sidway) wrote at that time:

The Muslim attack on Christians in a migrant boat crossing the Mediterranean is a sign of our times, a dark symbol and metaphor for a future which is rapidly beginning to come into focus:

We are all in a boat together, but there is a band of people in our boat which seeks to throw the rest of us overboard, to kill us, to sink and drown us, to eliminate us.

The fate of the murdered Christian migrants is the image of our future, unless we too form a human chain to resist our attackers.


So this is the second such report this year. What we don't know is how many times all Christians were thrown into the Mediterranean and no-one told authorities about it.

Is it just me, or is anyone else concerned that the 'intolerance to the point of murder' by Muslims to Christians, is not a good sign considering those Muslims are migrating to Christian countries? Is that racist of me? 


“Italian Police: Muslim Migrants Threw Christians Overboard,”
By Hada Messia, Livia Borghese and Jason Hanna, AINA,

Rome (CNN) — Muslims who were among migrants trying to get from Libya to Italy in a boat this week threw 12 fellow passengers overboard — killing them — because the 12 were Christians, Italian police said Thursday.

Italian authorities have arrested 15 people on suspicion of murdering the Christians at sea, police in Palermo, Sicily, said.

The original group of 105 people left Libya on Tuesday in a rubber boat. Sometime during the trip north across the Mediterranean Sea, the alleged assailants — Muslims from the Ivory Coast, Mali and Senegal — threw the 12 overboard, police said.

Other people on the voyage told police that they themselves were spared “because they strongly opposed the drowning attempt and formed a human chain,” Palermo police said.

The boat was intercepted by an Italian navy vessel, which transferred the passengers to a Panamanian-flagged ship. That ship docked in Palermo on Wednesday, after which the arrests were made, police said.

The 12 who died were from Nigeria and Ghana, police said.

Thousands of people each year make the dangerous sea journey from North Africa to Europe’s Mediterranean coast, often aboard vessels poorly equipped for the trip. Many of them attempt the voyage to flee war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East.

More than 10,000 people have arrived on Italian shores from Libya since last weekend alone, according to the Italian coast guard.

Many die each year while attempting the voyage, often when boats capsized. Last year at least 3,200 died trying to make the trip. Since 2000, according to the International Organization for Migration, almost 22,000 people have died fleeing across the Mediterranean.

The IOM reported Thursday the latest boat to sink in trying to make the journey. Only four people survived from the original 45 on board, bringing the estimated death toll so far this year close to a thousand.