GA sheriff offers $500,000 of his own money in case of teen found dead in gym mat – National & International News – WED 2Feb2022

GA sheriff offers $500K reward in case of teen found dead in gym mat. Texans fear repeat of 2021 blackouts. Putin accuses US of stoking Ukraine tensions.

NATIONAL NEWS

GA sheriff offers $500,000 of his own money in case of teen found dead in gym mat

In 2013, a death of a 17-year-old high school student in Valdosta, GA, made the national headlines. Kendrick Johnson was found dead, rolled up in a gym mat. When he was found, the mat was positioned vertically, with Kendrick’s head down and his feet visible at the top of the mat.

Aside from the unusual circumstances, local law enforcement’s conclusion that the teen’s death was an accident proved equally newsworthy. Their explanation – that Johnson had somehow fallen into the mat while reaching into it for a pair of shoes and asphyxiated- garnered near-universal criticism and incredulity, both from the public and commentators in the media.

That same year, federal investigators opened a probe of the case, pouring over interview testimony and hundreds of hours of surveillance footage from the school. According to a newly issued report from Lowndes County Sheriff Ashley Paulk, “federal investigators determined that there is insufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that someone or some group of people willfully violated Kendrick Johnson’s civil rights or committed any other prosecutable federal crime”.

“Weird accident” or “cover-up”?

With that, Paulk officially closed the case. Paulk was not sheriff at the time of the incident, but had re-opened the case due to lingering concerns. Citing the original investigation, Paulk called Johnson’s dead a “weird accident”.

But Johnson’s parents are having none of it. At the time, the Johnsons commissioned an independent autopsy, which concluded Kendrick died from blunt force trauma to his neck. The Johnsons still firmly believe that their son was murdered and that local authorities conspired in a cover-up. “I will fight as long as I have to uncover what exactly happened to Kendrick Johnson,” said, Kenneth Johnson, Kendrick’s father. Kenneth added that ,“You can’t do an investigation with the same investigators who covered it up. They’re not going to uncover something that they covered up”.

Sheriff Paulk fired back. “After the release of my synopsis of the Federal files on the Kendrick Johnson case,” Paulk stated “his parents have called me a liar and continue to state that Kendrick was murdered”. Paulk also announced he offering $500,000 out of his own pocket as reward for “anyone who comes forward with information that results in the arrest and conviction of a person for the alleged murder of Kendrick Johnson at Lowndes High School”.

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Texans brace for winter storm, fearing repeat of 2021 blackouts

Last year, a winter freeze left millions of Texans without power for weeks. According to some estimates, more than 750 people died as a result of the crisis, with the leading cause being hypothermia. Now the state is facing another powerful winter storm. State officials, including Gov. Abbott, say the state is ready. But residents are skeptical.

After the freeze, the state government passed regulations requiring its power stations to winterize. They’ve since inspected hundreds of facilities. State grid operators say they don’t expect this storm to be as severe as the one that crippled systems last year. Some, including Gov. Abbott, have warned that there might be some outages, but that these will amount to hours rather than days.

What’s worrying Texans is that the state has not yet enacted reforms to reinforce its natural gas network. These providers accounted for the most widespread and longest lasting outages last year.

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Putin accuses US of stoking Ukraine tensions

During a press conference yesterday, Putin turned the US narrative of Ukraine on its head. He accused Western powers of attempted to draw Russia into armed conflict in Ukraine. “Their main job is to deter the development of Russia, to hinder the development of Russia,” Putin said. “And in this sense, Ukraine is just a tool. You can do it in various ways. You can drag us into some kind of military conflict, armed conflict, and by using their allies in Europe to impose these hard-line sanctions against us that the United States is talking about”.

Putin’s first public statement in weeks came as talk of sanctions increased both in the U.S. and Europe. One of the major pressure points is the Nord Stream project. The pipeline, which is still under construction, would be a major artery delivering natural gas from Russia to Europe. The U.S. and other NATO allies have long had misgivings about Nord Stream, which they fear will increase Europe’s dependence on Russian fossil fuels. The U.S. is already negotiating contingency plans to deliver liquid gas from other sources should Russia decide to cut off deliveries to Europe to increase its leverage.

Despite increasing brinksmanship, there have been some conciliatory noises from Moscow. Although Putin maintains that recent NATO and U.S. proposals failed to address his key demands, he signaled openness to further talks in pursuit of a diplomatic solution.

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