Farmer Faces $2.8 Million Fine For Plowing His Own Field

A California farmer is facing a $2.8 million fine for failing to get a permit to plow his own field.

John Duarte bought 450 acres of land near Modesto in 2012 and is now being sued by the federal government for plowing near areas the government considers to be "waters of the United States."

USA Today reports:

A farmer faces trial in federal court this summer and a $2.8 million fine for failing to get a permit to plow his field and plant wheat in Tehama County.

A lawyer for Duarte Nursery said the case is important because it could set a precedent requiring other farmers to obtain costly, time-consuming permits just to plow.

"The case is the first time that we're aware of that says you need to get a (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) permit to plow to grow crops," said Anthony Francois, a lawyer for the Pacific Legal Foundation. The libertarian-leaning nonprofit fights for private property rights and limited government.

 "We're not going to produce much food under those kinds of regulations," Francois said.

The case will head to trial in August. The government claims that Duarte violated the Clean Water Act because he did not obtain a permit to work near the wetlands.

Francois, the attorney for Duarte, said farmers plowing their fields are exempt from federal rules.

Duarte plowed to a depth of between 4 and 7 inches.

It's All About Women (25 pics)

Pictures that can help understand women.

Homeless man shares how he aided victims of the Manchester terror attack

A man who described himself as homeless is being hailed as a hero online after coming to the aid of victims of a terrorist attack in Manchester, England, Monday night.

The suicide bombing attack at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester left at least 22 people, including children, dead. Dozens more were injured. Police said that the bomber, Salman Abedi, loaded the explosive with nails in order to increase the damage.

According to ITV News, Stephen Jones was sleeping outside near the arena Monday evening. When he heard the blast, he initially thought it was fireworks.

“I then realized what was happening and saw children coming out, screaming and covered in blood,” Jones, 35, told ITV News.

Jones described the chaotic scene he encountered as people left the concert venue.

“We were having to pull nails out of their arms and stuff and a couple out of this little girl’s face,” he said.

Another woman, Jones told the station, was injured on her side, so he and a friend helped hold her legs up “because we thought she was just going to bleed right out.”

“I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself for walking away and leaving kids like that,” he said.

“Just because I’m homeless doesn’t mean that I haven’t got a heart and I’m not human still,” he said. “They needed help and I like to think that someone would come and help me if I needed the help. It’s just instinct to go and help if someone needs your help.”

Twitter users praised Jones’ actions.

The Islamic State terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

White woman loses it on black and Hispanic women in Walmart. It doesn’t end well.

A video of an unnamed, angry white Walmart shopper — reportedly from Centerton, Ark. — using racial epithets directed at both black and Latino women went viral after it was shared Monday on Facbeook.

Eva Hicks, the Latina woman accosted by the white woman, was looking for medicine and reportedly asked the white woman to move out of her way, politely saying, “Excuse me.”

The white woman in the video began shouting at Hicks to “go back to where you came from” and suggested that the Latina woman “leave America.”

A black woman intervened, and the white woman advised the black woman to “stay out of it.” The unidentified black woman told the white woman that she wanted the white woman to “stop being ignorant,” and then things got even uglier.

“A n****r’s calling me ignorant?” the white woman asked, and turned her attentions back to Hicks, who she once again told to leave the country.

“This is my country!” the white woman continued to yell until management stepped in. “We don’t want you here!” she added.

When the store manager intervened, he advised the white woman that Hicks had every right to be there and asked the white woman to vacate the premises.

Sharing the video on her Facebook, Hicks wrote, “I never in my life thought this would happen to me. Just on a simple trip to the grocery store after a hard day of work. I love this country and I will stay in this country.”

A spokesperson for Walmart tweeted on Tuesday that they do not condone racial or discriminatory behavior in any way, shape or form.

Walmart’s statement read:

“We value and respect everyone who visits our stores. We have no tolerance for the language or actions of this customer and are proud that our assistant manager responded appropriately by asking her to leave the store.”

Seth Rich’s parents say that conservative media coverage of son’s murder is a ‘nightmare’

Mary and Joel Rich, parents of slain Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich, penned an op-ed on Tuesday in The Washington Post calling out media figures who reported their son’s death as nothing more than a “baseless” conspiracy theory, pleading with them to stop, as it was causing them “unbearable” pain.

Mary and Joel wrote that instead of being allowed to grieve their son’s death, they instead were subjected to a constant barrage of reporter questions and speculations about Seth’s murder, and whether or not they thought it was part of a conspiracy theory.

“We have seen no evidence, by any person at any time, that Seth’s murder had any connection to his job at the Democratic National Committee or his life in politics,” Seth’s parents wrote. “Anyone who claims to have such evidence is either concealing it from us or lying.”

Seth was shot and killed near his D.C. home in 2016. The case was never closed, but law enforcement officials claim that they believe Seth was killed during a botched robbery.

Mary and Joel noted that “conservative” media outlets continued to push the theory that their son’s murder was because Seth reportedly turned over DNC emails to Wikileaks.

“Those theories, which some reporters have since retracted, are baseless, and they are unspeakably cruel,” Seth’s parents wrote. “There are people who are using our beloved Seth’s memory and legacy for their own political goals, and they are using your outrage to perpetuate our nightmare. We ask those purveying falsehoods to give us peace, and to give law enforcement the time and space to do the investigation they need to solve our son’s murder.”

Fox News on Tuesday retracted a story published last week that contained inaccurate information about Seth’s murder.

A statement from Fox read:

“On May 16, a story was posted on the Fox News website on the investigation into the 2016 murder of DNC Staffer Seth Rich. The article was not initially subjected to the high degree of editorial scrutiny we require for all our reporting. Upon appropriate review, the article was found not to meet those standards and has since been removed. We will continue to investigate this story and will provide updates as warranted.”

However, later on Tuesday, Fox News host Sean Hannity professed that he would not back down from investigating Seth’s death and reiterated that it was Fox that retracted their reporting on the case — and he retracted nothing.

“This issue is so big now,” Hannity said. “That the entire Russia-collusion narrative is hanging by a thread, if in fact, take Seth out of it – there was a whistleblower within the DNC, a truth-teller, that actually was the source for WikiLeaks and not Russia, working with the Trump campaign.”

“That, these are questions that I have a moral obligation to ask,” he said. “And I will do the mainstream media’s job like I have most of my career.”

“And all you in the liberal media,” he concluded, “I am not Fox.com, or FoxNews.com, I retracted nothing!”

School ditches braid ban after being called racist

The Massachusetts attorney general says a Boston charter school's policy that bans braided hair extensions is discriminatory, violating state and federal law, CBS Boston reports.

Maura Healey's office sent a letter to the Mystic Valley Regional Charter School on Friday, ordering the school to immediately stop enforcing its hair and makeup policy.

Last week, two sisters, Deanna and Mya, said they were punished and kept from school events because they wore braided hair extensions.

Colleen Cook poses with her daughters Deanna and Mya. 

School administrators say the braids are a violation of their dress code. The girl's parents claim that policy is discriminatory and racist, which sparked an investigation by the attorney general.

Despite having more than 15 hours of detention, Mya Cook has been able to keep a positive attitude. "You know, no rain, no flowers, so when there's bad things that happen, of course good things are going to happen too," Mya Cook said.

In a letter to the school, the attorney general's office says the hair and makeup policy "includes a number of prohibitions that are either unreasonably subjective or appear to effectively single out students of color."

The letter goes on to say, "there appears to be substantial evidence that the [hair and makeup] policy is -- at best -- inconsistently applied."

The attorney general asked that the twins are immediately allowed back into all school events.

The twin girl's father, Aaron Cook, says he's grateful for the letter.

"We really appreciated the position of that the AG and the author laid out," Aaron Cook said.

Alexander J. Dan, the Interim School Director at the Mystic Valley Regional Charter School said, "We are in receipt of the letter from the attorney general's office and it will be reviewed by the board of trustees at a meeting that has been called for Sunday night."

The investigation into the policy's legality is ongoing.

High School Honors Student Could Lose Scholarship For Showing Shoulders

An honor roll senior at Hickory Ridge High School in Harrisburg, North Carolina, could lose college scholarships after she was suspended for wearing a top that showed her shoulders. 

The student, identified only as Summer, was wearing a loose blouse that was slightly off-the-shoulder and exposed her collarbone when her principal demanded she cover up during lunch. WRAL reports that the principal asked Summer to put on a jacket, to which Summer responded that she thought her shirt was “fine.” The principal replied by saying that her lower back was “also completely exposed,” going against the school’s dress code. 

Summer said again that she thought it was fine, but borrowed a friend's jacket to comply with the principal. “I pulled it up, put the jacket over it, zipped up the jacket,” Summer told WCNC. But Summer claims that it didn't end there, as the principal reportedly told her to “go to the control room to change her clothes.” Summer replied: “I completely understand why a dress code is put into place but I feel like after I put on that jacket it should have been subdued.” 

Summer says that she's had problems with the principal before, so much so that her mother now has to be informed of any disciplinary action taken against her child before it happens. Summer refused to go to the control room until her mother was informed: “They can’t take me anywhere unless my mother is called,” she said. “So I said ‘I apologize, I can’t go anywhere with you unless my mom is called.'” 

After the school was unable to contact her mother, Summer says things got out of hand. At an assembly, she was separated from the rest of the students, and the principal allegedly gave her an ultimatum with a security guard by their side. 

“[The security guard] was within five feet of me, he had his hand on his gun. [The principal] said, ‘I’m gonna give you an ultimatum. We have tried to call your mother. You either come with me to the control room to change your shirt or we will arrest you. I stayed in my seat just like a lot of role models that I have looked up to stayed in their seats. I mean, you have to stand up for what you believe in.’”

 Summer says the principal instructed the security guard to arrest Summer, but before they could handcuff Summer, her mother called back. As Yahoo reports, Summer's mother arrived at the school to find that her daughter had received a 10-day suspension for insubordination, which will prevent her from attending any senior activities, including graduation. 

“It’s just sad because I worked so hard for four years to walk across that stage,” Summer said. “We have drug dealers walking across that stage, we have sex offenders walking across that stage and then the 4.4 student who showed her shoulders can’t.” 

Summer also fears that her scholarships could be at risk, since the principal is reportedly seeking to expel her, a move which her mother plans to appeal. 

According to WCNC, the school’s dress code prohibits students from showing their shoulders or back, though in this case, Summer’s back and shoulders weren’t completely exposed. The local news station states that the school fiercely enforces the dress code, and that earlier this year, 45 students were sent to the principal's office for wearing leggings with shirts that were deemed too short. 

A spokesperson for the school system refused to comment, citing student privacy.