Author: Fox News

Some 7-Eleven convenience stores around the country, including in Texas and California have started using roaring classical and opera music as a tactic to deter homeless people from camping out in front of their storefronts. 

One Texas 7-Eleven owner says the goal is to deter homeless individuals from being there and harassing customers. Some customers say they’re all for the music, while others are annoyed by it. 

The store owner, Jagat Patel, says no one from the Austin Police Department has shown up, despite officials receiving multiple noise complaints from blasting classical tunes. He doesn’t know whether the actual decibel level falls within city ordinance, but told FOX 7 that he is planning on lowering volume. 

A man leaves a franchised 7-Eleven store past cigarette ads posted on the door in Texas. 
(Tim Boyle/Getty Images)

Patel says the homeless population has been a big problem. 

“Especially a lot of my female customers and my young customers are scared to come here, because there are people constantly hanging out in the parking lot soliciting for money,” he said.

He says he’s had to pay a professional to clean up needles. Others who work nearby say they’ve been attacked by homeless people. 

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“I have to carry this big old knife with me just to defend myself, it’s sad that you have to do that,” Joe Miranda, who works nearby, told Fox 7.

Patel says he started playing the music about 10 days ago and got the idea because other store owners around the country began doing the same. 

“Studies have shown that the classical music is annoying. Opera is annoying, and I’m assuming they are correct because it’s working,” he said.

A 7-Eleven store logo is visible outside a 7-Eleven store. The Dallas, Texas-based 7-Eleven, Inc. is the world’s largest convenience store operator.
( Tim Boyle/Getty Images)

Since Patel and other businesses nearby began playing classical and opera music, they’ve noticed a difference. 

“Now since they’ve had this music going on, we have less traffic down with the homeless out here,” Joe Miranda, a local business owner, told Fox 7.

Miranda says he thinks it’s the right solution.

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“It’s helping out, it’s not annoying to us because it doesn’t bother us, but it bothers probably them because they’re doing drugs,” he said.

Others disagree, calling the music “obnoxious” while going shopping and filling up the tank with gas. 

“I believe, just talk to them, and ask them not to hang around, or not to live around, whatever, I think that’s the best solution,” Frederick Carter, who lives nearby, said.

He says he’s started going other nearby 7-Eleven store that doesn’t have music playing.

“This music is not very good, it’s loud, it’s obnoxious to me, I don’t like it, you can hear it a long ways off, it’s very disturbing,” he said.

A customer pumps gas at a 7-Eleven store May 9, 2003 in Des Plaines, Illinois. 
( Tim Boyle/Getty Images)

Texas convenience stores aren’t the only store tapping into Mozart, Bach, and Beethoven, with 7-Elevens in California following suit. 

In Los Angeles, California, 7-Eleven owners began to play classical music to help employees and customers alike feel safe amid a continued spike in homelessness in the area. 

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The owner of a California 7-Eleven, Sukhi Sandhu, told The Modesto Bee that he began playing opera and classical music last year in an effort to drive out panhandlers and other loiterers from the convenience store.

“Once the music started, the riffraff left,” Manuel Souza told the local paper. “It’s hard to hang out and gossip and joke around.” 

Carlos Correa had a busy offseason.

He agreed to deals with three teams. He can only play for one, of course, and that will be the Minnesota Twins.

Correa initially agreed to a 13-year, $350 million deal with the San Francisco Giants. However, after a doctor working for the Giants took issue with Correa’s physical, that deal fell through, and the New York Mets pounced. 

They then reportedly agreed to pay him $315 million over the next dozen years and slide him to third base.

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Carlos Correa of the Minnesota Twins rounds the bases on his solo home run against the Kansas City Royals in the first inning of a game at Target Field Sept. 15, 2022, in Minneapolis.
(David Berding/Getty Images)

There was just one problem: The Mets sought advice from the same doctor that the NL West club had used, according to Correa.

“The Giants used an ankle specialist who didn’t pass me,’’ Correa told The Athletic. “Then the Mets used the same specialist, who obviously wasn’t going to pass me. He had already given an opinion to another team about my ankle. He was not going to change that. He was going to stand by what he was saying, of course, because that is what he believed.’’

The problem with the physical stems from a rod in Correa’s ankle from 2014 surgery. Correa’s deal with the Mets never reached the finish line after much back-and-forth. The Mets were willing to guarantee Correa $157.5 million over the first six years of their proposed contract.

The Minnesota Twins’ Carlos Correa speaks to the media at Target Field Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023, in Minneapolis. The team and Correa agreed to a six-year, $200 million contract. 
(AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

METS BREAK SILENCE ON CARLOS CORREA DEBACLE AS SHORTSTOP’S DEAL WITH TWINS BECOMES OFFICIAL

The Twins and Correa eventually agreed on a deal, but Minnesota was not willing to give Correa as long a deal. They will have Correa for half as long as the shortstop would have been under contract with the Mets.

Correa, 28, signed a six-year pact worth $200 million.

“We did have other ankle specialists look at it and say it was going to be fine,” Correa said. But the one doctor used by the Giants and Mets “never touched me or seen me or done a test on me.”

The shortstop has been placed on the injured list seven times in his eight-year career, but never for his ankle, and he has played at least 140 games just twice in his career (2016, 2021). The 28-year-old played in 136 games last season because of two trips to the injured list.

Carlos Correa (4) of the Minnesota Twins celebrates with teammates in the dugout after hitting a two-run home run against the Detroit Tigers during the seventh inning at Comerica Park Sept. 30, 2022, in Detroit.
(Duane Burleson/Getty Images)

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Correa is a .279 career hitter with an .836 OPS and a Gold Glove Award in 2021. He also won the Platinum Glove in the AL.

In the postseason, he has hit .272 with an .849 OPS, blasting 18 homers and driving in 59 runs in 79 games. Last season with the Twins, Correa hit .291 to go along with an on-base percentage of .366. He also slugged 22 home runs and drove in 64.

A man tried to snatch an 11-year-old girl while she played outside her Missouri home, but she was “able to get free” and run away, the Greene County Sherif’s Office said. 

Now a manhunt is on for the 5-foot 11-inch, 200-pound would-be kidnapper and two other people in a black truck. 

The incident happened around 7:15 p.m. in Ash Grove, Missouri. 

The suspected kidnapper was described as a White man who wore black clothing and black and white sneakers, according to the sheriff’s office. 

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There were two other people – a man and a woman – in the truck, which was described as “newer” with stock wheels that had scratches around them, the Greene County Sheriff’s Office said.

The second man in the truck sat in the driver’s seat and had black hair, no facial hair and wore a black coat, and the woman sat in the backseat and had hair past her shoulders, the sheriff’s office said. 

Law enforcement sent K-9 Units to scour the area, and detectives checked for surveillance video at nearby residences and business, but the truck or the trio haven’t been spotted, as of Saturday afternoon. 

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The sheriff’s office asked anyone with information to call the Greene County Sheriff’s Office Crime Tip Hotline at 417-829-6230.

Authorities said that a Riverside County deputy who was rushed to the hospital after he was shot Friday afternoon has died.

Darnell Calhoun, 30, of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office (RSO) was killed in the line of duty, ultimately dying of injuries he suffered during a shootout with a suspect in Lake Elsinore, the office said.

Deputies responded to a call in the 18500 block of Hilldale Lane, where a noncompliant suspect began firing at officers, according to FOX 11 Los Angeles.

The sheriff’s office said that one person was in custody after the shooting.
 

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Riverside County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Darnell Calhoun, 30, was shot and killed Friday, Jan. 13, 2023.
(Riverside County Sheriff’s Office)

Lake Elsinore is located just south of Riverside, near San Bernardino, both east of Los Angeles.

Sheriff Chad Bianco said Calhoun responded to a child custody call around 4:20 p.m.

It is not immediately clear what led to the shooting.

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Calhoun joined the department on February 2022, after serving with the San Diego Police Department, Bianco said.

“There is not one person with one negative to say about him,” Bianco said of Calhoun, FOX 11 reported. “He was the most good, wholesome man you could ever imagine.”

He was a husband, a son and a father-to-be.

A photo of Deputy Darnell Calhoun at the San Diego Police Department
(San Diego Police Department)

Several law enforcement offices expressed their condolences for the loss.

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The Los Angeles Police Department called the news “tragic.”

“The LAPD sends its condolences to his friends and loved ones. Rest In Peace Deputy Calhoun,” the department said in a post.

“To our brothers and sisters of Riverside County Sheriff’s Dept., no words can express our deepest sorrow for the loss of Deputy Darnell Calhoun,” said Orange County Sheriff’s Office. “Our thoughts and prayers are for you, his family, and his friends. We will honor him, mourn him, and stand beside you in every way.”

“Our thoughts and prayers are with Deputy Calhoun’s family and his brothers and sisters of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department. Saddened by this devastating loss,” OC Fire Authority added.

San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office said their hearts were “broken.”

“Our hearts are broken for our partners @RSO. Our thoughts and prayers are with Deputy Calhoun’s family, loved ones, and partners,” the office said.

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“We are devastated to learn of the passing of @RSO Deputy Darnell Calhoun, an SDPD officer until 2022,” said the San Diego Police Department, Calhoun’s previous employer. “This evening, he was killed in the line of duty while protecting Lake Elsinore. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends, & colleagues in SDPD and @RSO.”

Ventura County Sheriff’s Office added: “We would like to send our deepest condolences to our brothers and sisters @riversidecountysheriff as they navigate another line of duty death. Our agency has authorized mourning bands to be worn by our deputies immediately, as we stand in solidarity.”

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The loss comes just weeks after Deputy Isaiah Cordero, another Riverside County deputy, was shot and killed during a traffic stop in Jurupa Valley on Dec. 29. 

William Shae McKay, 44, the suspect who fired the shot was killed during a pursuit.

Zack Shahin has rotted — literally rotted — in a Dubai prison for 15 years.

The bright fluorescent lights are always on in the concrete cell the American citizen shares with 60 other prisoners. The noisy air conditioner runs 24 hours a day. The air is damp, cold and smells like decaying flesh.

Zack sleeps on a plastic mattress with a dirty blanket and in clothes that have never been washed. Prisoners are rarely let out of their cells.

His family maintains his innocence.

But Zack — sick, sleep-deprived and starving — lost the will to live years ago.

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“He is rotting,” Martin Lonergan, a British activist who met Zack in prison, told Fox News. “If you can imagine a man is dying because he’s rotting … they’re cutting bits of Zack away, and he’s dying trying to fight the infection.” 

Nearly three months ago, Zack’s condition became so dire he was moved to a Dubai hospital where he had multiple unsuccessful surgeries. 

In a final attempt to get Zack home, his family submitted mercy letters to the State Department on Nov. 23. The Shahins went back and forth with State Department officials for nearly two weeks, revising their letters until they were finally sent to the United Arab Emirates on Dec. 6. 

The Shahins didn’t know it, but the U.S. was simultaneously negotiating the release of WNBA star Brittney Griner, which the UAE helped facilitate.

“They completely abandoned us … they completely pushed us to the side,” Ramy Shahin, Zack’s son, told Fox News. “Maybe we’re not newsworthy enough for them — we’re not famous, we’re just an ordinary family — and they just left us.” 

‘They just took him down’

Zack, a Lebanese native who moved to Texas when he was five, worked as a Pepsi truck driver in Houston. Eventually, he worked his way up to become an executive at the company.

In 2004, Zack was recruited to the UAE by Mohammed Khalfan bin Kharbash, the country’s minister of finance and chairman of the Dubai Islamic Bank. He was made CEO of a real estate development firm the bank owned, Deyaar. Over the next four years, the $5 million private firm became a $1.5 billion publicly traded company, and the second-largest publicly traded real estate company on the Dubai Stock Exchange.

But when Dubai’s ruler died in 2006, the political fallout engulfed bin Kharbash and disrupted Zack’s success, according to his family. He resigned from Deyaar in early March 2008.

On March 23, Zack, then-43, was called into an auditing meeting. There, he was abducted by state security, Zack’s family said. After 17 days in solitary confinement, he was brought to the police station and arrested on charges of fraud, embezzlement and other financial crimes — crimes his family says are false and politically motivated.

Zack Shahin, 59, has been illegally detained in a Dubai prison for 15 years for crimes he did not commit, his family said. 
(Courtesy of the Shahin family)

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His family said he was detained for 13 months before formal charges were filed against him. Besides a short-lived release on bail, Zack spent the next nine years in jail before he was finally convicted in 2017. He was sentenced to 49 years, which didn’t include time served.

His family insists he is innocent. The big four global accountancy firms audited Deyaar for the years Zack was CEO and found no financial losses or evidence of the financial crimes he was accused of, according to the Shahins. 

“My dad’s just an ordinary American guy who started working hard to make a name for himself,” Ramy told Fox News. “He took this little real estate company and made it what it became and built so much of what Dubai is known for. And then they just took him down.” 

‘My dad has no hope’

Now 58, Zack is the longest-serving American white-collar prisoner overseas, according to Detained International, a British organization that provides pro bono legal services to prisoners.

Several organizations, including Human Rights Watch, Detained International and the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation, have tried to raise awareness of Zack’s imprisonment over the years but haven’t gotten a response from the U.S. government.

“I’m going to keep fighting until he gets out,” Ramy said. “And if I fail, then so be it. But I’ll never let this go.” 

Zack’s mental and physical health have deteriorated greatly while in prison. His family said he won’t survive much longer. 
(Courtesy of the Shahin family)

Zack suffers from a host of health issues, including an infection in his lungs and rotting flesh and skin sores. The Shahins suspect his condition is worse than they know since they have never seen his medical records.

Lonergan, the Brit who met Zack while jailed, compared the prison to a dungeon.

“It is where you are pushed away to be forgotten about,” he said.

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Lonergan, who works for Detained International, spent 10 months imprisoned with Zack beginning in 2020. He first noticed the American through the bars of his own cell from across the hall. Despite the severity of Zack’s physical ailments, Lonergan said his mental health is “far, far worse.”

“I did have conversations with Zack, and there’s times when you can see a glimmer of light in his eyes when he talks about his story,” Lonergan said. “Most of what I’ve discovered is from research from when I got out.”

“I have never in my life witnessed such injustice,” he added. 

The Shahins had some hope after President Biden signed an executive order in July bolstering an existing hostage recovery law. It directed U.S. agencies to communicate more with families of Americans unlawfully detained overseas and allowing for their captors to face sanctions.

Martin Lonergan, who spent 279 days in the Dubai prison with Zack, said he lost a third of his body weight and developed a heart condition due to the inhumane conditions. 
(Courtesy of Martin Lonergan)

However, their request for advocacy for Zack under the law, the Levinson Act, was denied within five days. 

“I think the Biden administration and the State Department should look at our case and treat it with a little more respect,” Ramy told Fox News. “Because we haven’t even been given any of that.”

Ramy was 14 when his father was imprisoned. Now 30, he speaks to his father on the phone every few days. 

“My dad has no hope,” he said. “It hurts me every time I talk to him because he lost hope a long time ago. He’s a shell of what he used to be.”

News of his condition led Zack’s family to make one final appeal for mercy from the UAE royal family.

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“All we want is mercy,” Zack’s sister-in-law, Aida Dagher, told Fox News. “Somebody move, please. Let this guy fly to the medical center in Houston, close to his family, where he can have whatever is left of his life.”

Zack’s, son Ramy, said the entire family is still “broken” over their father’s imprisonment. 
(Courtesy of the Shahin family)

The State Department repeatedly asked the Shahins to tone down the rhetoric in their mercy letters, emails provided to Fox News show. Two days after the letters were sent, the news broke about the UAE’s involvement in Griner’s release. 

“My dad’s situation was an inconvenience to the U.S.,” Ramy told Fox News. “When they were working with the United Arab Emirates and Russia to negotiate Brittney Griner’s release, I feel like they thought, ‘let’s not mention Zack Shahin while we’re working to get her out because it might not go right with them.'”

“To have the letters pushed back and sat on for days and weeks while the UAE was obviously helping America negotiate Brittney Griner’s released — it’s obvious that the department did not want to antagonize the UAE during this diplomatic process,” Lonergan said. 

The family also said the close relationship between the U.S. and the UAE further disincentives the U.S. from advocating for Zack. 

Zack Shahin still has over 40 years left on his sentence. His family said they don’t expect him to survive beyond the next few weeks. 
(Courtesy of Shahin family)

A State Department spokesperson told Fox News they are regularly in contact with the Shahins and will continue to monitor Zack’s case and “provide all appropriate consular assistance.”

“We have no greater priority than the safety and security of U.S. citizens overseas,” the spokesperson said. “We take seriously our commitment to assist U.S. citizens abroad and are providing all appropriate assistance.”

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After 15 years and three presidential administrations with little to no action, the family is still plagued with Zack’s absence every day. 

“We’re all broken,” Ramy said. “I look at my mom, and she’s just hollow … she can’t function.” 

“I try to put on a front and act strong for my family and my dad, but I feel like I lost a part of myself when he went in there,” he added. 

To watch the full interview with Ramy, Lonergan and Dagher, click here. 

A Republican in the House of Representatives will be forming a new caucus to take on “wokeness” across the country, which presents the “greatest domestic threat to America today,” he said.

Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., announced Friday that he will be creating the “first-ever Anti-Woke Caucus” to take on political correctness groups, which he said have formed a “tyranny” that is vastly changing America through “indoctrination.”

He added: “The most toxic part of this tyranny is its doctrine — ’wokeness.’”

So, he’s taking action: “This Congress, I will create the first-ever Anti-Woke Caucus.” 

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Pride (rainbow) color projected over the statue of Confederate General Robert Lee on June 12, 2020 in Richmond, Virginia. 
((Photo by Eze Amos/Getty Images))

“Wokeness is especially prevalent and dangerous at universities and in primary schools because the Left recognized students as the most vulnerable and useful targets for indoctrination,” Banks wrote in an op-ed for American Mind titled”Fighting the Woke Agenda in Congress.” 

In the op-ed, he detailed what he believes America and Congress must do to reclaim its standards and practices from those who seek to erase them.

“This utterly un-American doctrine would be comical were it not so powerful. And it is powerful because it is enforced not only by every major national institution. It is promoted and funded by the federal government itself,” he said.

Community members began using the word “woke” more popularly after the 2020 death of George Floyd, who died after a police officer knelt on his neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds.
(Elsa/Getty Images)

“The Biden administration imposes these beliefs in schools, in the military, in government agencies and in the private sector. It not only wants us to hate each other. It is funding this hatred and fanning its flames. What do you think will be left of our nation once more and more people accept wokeness and act on its principles?” the Republicans pondered.

Banks speculated in the op-ed that America has not yet seen how far the “public humiliation” will go and what other facets of society could become their next targets. He also said this movement is not impeded by facts “but must be believed.”

“The nation’s most powerful forces—our intelligence agencies, corporations, the press, our universities, and even our military—are all pressing further and further into uncharted territory from which it’s not clear America can return,” he said.

A teacher discusses woke topics on the school’s agenda.
(Fox News)

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“Everyone has by now heard this word, but it means something very specific. It means that all the so-called oppressor groups must be punished for their past and present alleged sins. There are many steps to punishing them: inducing self-hatred through indoctrination, stripping away their rights by not enforcing the laws on their behalf, public humiliation, hatred, expropriation, and ultimately violence,” the Indiana Republican wrote.

“That’s what the Left has done so far. It’s not exactly clear yet how far this can go,” he added.

Banks wrote, “And what does wokeness mean for the so-called oppressed? It means privileged status, exemption from certain laws and norms, and the public recognition that their views are unimpeachable—they cannot be contradicted by reason, they cannot be doubted, but must be believed.”

In the op-ed, Banks suggested a movement to limit free speech, change America’s traditions, and rewrite her history — which the lawmaker called an “utterly un-American doctrine” — would be “comical” if it were not “so powerful.”

Republican governors, including Ron DeSantis of Florida and Chris Sununu of New Hampshire, have announced they intend to push back on indoctrination in their respective states.

The Republican also compiled a list of actions Congress should take to oppose further “wokeness” from permeating society.

Protesters surround a statue of Christopher Columbus before marching, eventually returning and pulling it down in Richmond, Virginia, June 9, 2020. 
(PARKER MICHELS-BOYCE/AFP via Getty Images)

A tow truck removed the Christopher Columbus statue after it was toppled in front of the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul on Wednesday, June 10, 2020. 
(Leila Navidi/Star Tribune via Getty Images)

The pedestal where a statue of Christopher Columbus stood is pictured on June 11, 2020 in Richmond, Virginia. 
(Zach Gibson/Getty Images)

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“The new House Republican majority can and will fight institutionalized wokeness. The path forward is clear so long as we act confidently, as our voters demand,” he wrote.

“First, House Republicans should pass legislation to rescind Executive Order 13985, Biden’s equity Executive Order that directed every single federal agency to produce an ‘Equity Action Plan,’” the essay continued. “Chuck Schumer would certainly strike it down, but it’s important for Republicans to make a unified statement in opposition to the Left’s abandonment of equality under the law.”

Banks then plainly said: “Second, Congress must stop funding wokeness.”

The Republican admitted his party was also at fault in approving funds geared towards empowering “woke institutions and activities.”

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He said Congress approved more money to these groups in 2017 and 2018, when Republicans controlled Congress, than when Democrats retook the majority in 2019 and 2020. 

“This Congress, we should aim to eliminate all such funding,” he said.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis addresses the crowd before publicly signing HB 7, “individual freedom,” also dubbed the “stop woke” bill during a press conference at Mater Academy Charter Middle/High School in Hialeah Gardens, Florida, on Friday, April 22, 2022. 
(Daniel A. Varela/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

Banks continued: “Third, we should use our oversight power to question woke federal officials and woke companies.”

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And, “Finally, anti-woke House Republicans should organize.”

U.S. Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., arrives at the House Republican caucus leadership elections in the U.S. Capitol Visitors Center on November 15, 2022 in Washington, DC. 
(Alex Wong/Getty Images)

The Republican said his new caucus will “regularly host meetings with anti-woke legislators and subject-matter experts” to understand better “the long tentacles of the wokeness regime, the laws, regulations, and funding sources which support it.”

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Concluding the op-ed, Banks called the “woke” movement the “greatest domestic threat to America today.”

On Oct. 5, two Golden State Warriors teammates got into a scuffle that made national headlines and forever changed their relationship.

After exchanging words, Draymond Green got in Jordan Poole’s face, leading to Poole shoving Green. That prompted Green to punch Poole in fact, and the two were tangled up before it was broken up.

No one realized how bad the incident was until the video leaked – much to the dismay of everyone involved.

But perhaps nobody was more upset with its release than Green himself.

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Jordan Poole #3 of the Golden State Warriors high-fives Draymond Green #23 during the game against the Toronto Raptors on December 18, 2022, at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
(Vaughn Ridley/NBAE via Getty Images)

Green says that the leaking of the video was “100 percent calculated” to portray him negatively.

“As someone who is involved in the incident, I totally forgot in watching the video everything that went on. Because in the video, you watch and audio-less video, you watch a three-second clip of me walking up, and I swing. That’s what you see. That video was put out there like that to portray me the exact way it did,” Green said in a recent interview with Bleacher Report. “Does that mean that I was not wrong in what I did? No, that does not mean that. 100 percent was the wrong reaction. But in everything, there is also a full story. I don’t care to share my story. One day I will… 

“But what I figured out in watching that video all day is like, damn, this actually was what this was meant to do,” he continued. “This was meant to form an opinion about me, and not give another side to it. Like, not even allow another opinion to be formed, This video was put out just like this. No audio. If we got this video, we got the whole practice, right? We got everything, right? All you see is five seconds. And so what I had to do is, number one, because once that released, I’m experiencing so many emotions. Like, I’m upset. How the hell does this get released? I’m, like, going through hell because you’re just at the sole discretion of public opinion.”

The fight came less than three months after the Warriors won their fourth NBA title in the last seven years – they’ve been unable to get past the championship hangover with a 20-21 record at the midway point of the season.

But Green doesn’t think the fight is necessarily to blame, as the two continue to work on their relationship – although he admitted would never be the same.

Jordan Poole #3 and Draymond Green #23 of the Golden State Warriors celebrate against the Boston Celtics during the fourth quarter in Game Six of the 2022 NBA Finals at TD Garden on June 16, 2022, in Boston, Massachusetts. 
(Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)

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“We go to work every day together,” he later said. “Our lockers are right next to each other, that never changed. We ride the same buses together, we change in the same locker room on the road together — none of that has changed. Did it change our relationship, of course. Absolutely. That’s still a work in progress. I’ll always be willing to continue to do that work because I was wrong. Definitely allow it to move forward, and we have moved forward, and it’s just fine. But is it different? 100 percent. Not that I expected it to be the same…

“I see improvements, day by day, week by week, month by month I see improvements. That’s all you can ask for. I don’t expect him to come out and be like, ‘Man, I wanna come hang with you off the court.’ I don’t expect that. I’m not a fool… It’s kind of what I expected it to be. But it’d a constant work in progress to the makeup of our team, to the success of our team. I continue to do the work.”

Golden State Warriors guard Jordan Poole (3) is congratulated by forward Draymond Green after scoring against the Denver Nuggets during the first half of an NBA preseason basketball game in San Francisco, Friday, Oct. 14, 2022. 
(AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

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The Warriors have lost three straight after winning their previous five. Stephen Curry has missed 11 games with a shoulder injury.

Golden State begins a five-game road trip on Friday after wrapping up an eight-game home stand. Before that, they were on the road for six straight.

According to a report, the district attorney in New York has offered a plea deal to a suspect who attacked a Jewish man in 2021. The suspect has since said he would “do it again.”

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is offering a plea deal to Waseem Awawdeh, 24, for his alleged role in beating Joseph Borgen, 29, with crutches, punching, kicking and pepper-spraying him, according to the New York Sun. 

The reported six-month plea deal comes after Awawdeh told one of his jailers he would repeat the assault — saying, “If I could do it again, I would do it again,” according to a prosecutor at Awawdeh’s arraignment hearing in Manhattan Criminal Court. 

“I have no problem doing it again,” he added of the attack that took place last year near Broadway and West 49th Street.

JEWISH MAN BEATEN DURING WILD NYC PROTESTS AFRAID TO WEAR YARMULKE

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg at the NY District Attorney’s office to face charges on September 08, 2022, in New York City. 
(David Dee Delgado/Getty Images)

Awawdeh was charged with assault as a hate crime, gang assault, menacing, aggravated harassment as a hate crime and criminal possession of a weapon in the 2021 attack and faced a maximum of seven years if convicted of the charges.

Mahmoud Musa, Faisal Elezzi and Mohammed Othman were also charged in the attack, which was unprovoked, prosecutors told Judge Kathryn Paek in 2021.

During the assault, Awawdeh allegedly called Borgen a “dirty Jew,” said, “F–k Israel,” and said, “Hamas is going to kill all of you.” 

NYPD RELEASES PHOTOS OF SUSPECTS IN BEATING OF JEWISH MAN IN TIMES SQUARE

Borgen shared his recollection of the attack, including his injuries.

“I felt a liquid being poured on my face, and at first, I thought I was getting urinated on,” Borgen told The New York Post in 2021. 

Joseph Borgen, a recent victim of a hate crime, speaks during a rally denouncing anti-Semitic violence on May 27, 2021 in Cedarhurst, New York. 
(Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

People listen to Joseph Borgen, a recent victim of a hate crime, speak during a rally denouncing anti-Semitic violence on May 27, 2021 in Cedarhurst, New York. 
(Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

“But it turned out I was getting Maced and pepper-sprayed. My face was on fire,” he said at the time. “That pain was worse than the concussion and all this other stuff that followed.” 

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Borgen also explained he was concussed, had injuries on his arm, and was sore “all over” his body.

“I had an X-ray on my wrist. It’s not broken, but it’s messed up. Every time I move it, it’s in pain, probably sprained,” he recalled at the time. “I have bruises all over my body. I have a black eye. My face is banged up. I’m just sore all over my body. They were kicking me in my ribs, my stomach.” 

The Post reported Awawdeh’s lawyer said “no decisions have been made” on the woke D.A.’s offer.

Gov. Tim Walz signed his first bill of the 2023 session Thursday, legislation to simplify tax filing and save money for hundreds of thousands of Minnesota residents and businesses, including people with student loans and companies that received pandemic aid.

The bill brings Minnesota’s tax code into conformity with federal tax rules. It’s one of several that legislative leaders have fast-tracked since convening last week with Democrats now controlling both chambers of the Legislature. Bills on issues from abortion rights to unemployment benefits for laid-off miners are also expected to hit the governor’s desk soon.

The tax conformity bill sailed through both the House and Senate with unanimous bipartisan support. Officials said it needed to be signed into law by Friday so that tax forms and software could be updated in time for the filing season, which opens Jan. 23.

MN DEMOCRATS EXCEED EXPECTATIONS IN THIS YEAR’S MIDTERM ELECTIONS WITH WINS IN BOTH HOUSES OF LEGISLATURE

“This is the way the Legislature’s supposed to work,” Walz said at a signing ceremony.

It amounts to over a $100 million tax cut, and it’s retroactive, so individuals and businesses who qualify can file amended returns for previous years to claim refunds. Over 600,000 individuals and businesses will benefit, said Senate Taxes Committee Chair Ann Rest, of New Hope. The Department of Revenue has posted information on its website detailing who the changes affect.

The bill ensures that federal coronavirus, economic stimulus and other aid passed in recent years that’s exempt from federal taxation won’t be subject to state taxes. That means a retroactive state tax break for numerous businesses that got grants to keep them afloat while they were shut down during the height of the pandemic.

“For the first time in almost three years, Minnesota’s small businesses, venues, movie theaters, restaurants — those of us that were the first to close and the last to reopen — can breathe a tiny sigh of relief,” said Dayna Frank, president and CEO of First Avenue Productions, which owns the iconic First Avenue nightclub in Minneapolis.

The first bill signed into law this legislative session by Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz focused on simplifying the tax filing process.
((Jeff Wheeler/Star Tribune via AP)

It also ensures that forgiven student loans won’t be taxable by the state if President Joe Biden’s relief program survives a challenge that will reach the U.S. Supreme Court next month.

The Legislature had hoped to pass a similar package last year, but it got caught up in partisan stalemates that resulted in most of a $9.25 billion budget surplus going unspent. That projected surplus has since swelled to $17.6 billion, so there was plenty of money available for conformity.

Also moving quickly through both chambers is a bill to codify abortion rights, which passed its final House committee Thursday and could get a floor vote as soon as next week. It’s a top priority for Democrats, who hope Walz can sign it by the end of the month.

Abortion rights remained broadly protected in Minnesota even after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade. That’s due to a 1995 Minnesota Supreme Court decision. But the bill would write those protections into state statutes to prevent future courts from reversing them.

MINNESOTA LEGISLATURE HOLDS HEARING REGARDING THE LEGALIZATION OF RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA FOR ADULTS

Similarly, a bill to remove several abortion restrictions from Minnesota statutes, which a state judge struck down as unconstitutional last summer, passed its first committee Thursday in the House.

One of the newest members of the Legislature, Democratic Sen. Grant Hauschild, of Hermantown, is the lead author of what could be one of the next bills to reach the governor. Hauschild narrowly carried his northeastern Minnesota district in November in one of a handful of races that tipped control of the Senate to the Democrats.

His bill, which passed the Senate 56-10 Thursday, would extend unemployment benefits for more than 400 laid-off workers at Northshore Mining. The operation has been idle since May 1. The main reason is a royalty dispute between its owner, Cleveland-Cliffs, and a trust that controls the mineral rights for the mine pit near Babbitt that supplies iron ore for Northshore’s processing plant in Silver Bay. Jobless benefits typically run out after six months in Minnesota, so the bill would extend them for another six months, retroactively, at a cost of $10.3 million.

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That bill now goes to the House, where a first hearing is set for Wednesday. Democratic House Majority Leader Jamie Long, of Minneapolis, said he expects a floor vote “soon.”

One Black college instructor’s dress code for the semester landed him in hot water on social media this week, with many users claiming his mandate to ban “hoodies,” “durags,” “twerk shorts,” and “coochie cutter shorts” was discriminatory against Black students. 

Last week, a snapshot of a computer science class syllabus from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University went viral on Twitter thanks to its attention grabbing dress code policy.

The computer science class instructor, a Black male whom Twitter allegedly identified as NCAT professor Derrick LeFlore, listed several items, including “Bonnets, Durag, Hoodies, Booty Shorts, Coochie Cutter Shorts, Twerk Shorts,” that were not to be worn in his class.

COLLEGE COURSE OFFERS COURSE TO STUDY SOCIETY’S ‘OBSESSION WITH THE DEATH OF WHITE WOMEN’

A Black male computer science class instructor at a North Carolina college was accused of mandating an “anti-Black” dress code last week.
(James Sheppard/Future via Getty Images)

The syllabus declared these items “NOT appropriate.” Underneath the list, the instructor provided a bit of guidance for the policy, stating, “If you wear it to bed or the club, don’t wear it [to class].” (The rest of the guidance could not be read as the tweet did not contain the entire document.)

The list caused a stir on Twitter, with many users accusing the instructor of being “anti-Black.” The original account that posted the image asked, “GOT D****** HOODIES B****?!?!”

Another user replied, “This is givinggggg antiblack. imagine typing coochie cutters and twerk shorts INTO A SYLLABUS,” to which the original poster said, “NAH FRR (For real).”

One user commented, “very antiblack idk.”

Others were annoyed that clothing items as common as hoodies weren’t allowed in class. One asked, “Wait… this is a Comp Sci course? And you can’t wear a hoodie?   The default uniform for people who do careers in that s***?”

ETHNIC STUDIES SCHOOL ADMINSITRATOR ARGUED SOME JEWISH AMERICANS HAVE ‘CONTROL OF SYSTEMIC POWER’

Forbes.com claimed the instructor’s hoodie policy could be seen as ‘anti-Black’ because the apparel has been referred to in a derogatory manner since the death of Trayvon Martin.
(AP )

Forbes.com, which reported on the incident, noted that “Forbidding Black students from wearing hoodies to class does signal some suspicion.” It added, “It is important to remember that hoodies became emblematic of certain negative assumptions in America about Black youth after the tragic murder of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in 2012.”

Continuing to fuel the anti-Black allegations, the report added, “However, the negative connotation of wearing hoodies does not apply to white teenagers and young adults as much as it does to Black young people.”

Other users on Twitter were simply shocked by the language the instructor used to describe the inappropriate dress. A user wrote, “Imagine typing booty shorts, coochie cutter shorts, and twerk shorts on a syllabus and being fr I’m crime.”

Though some users pushed back on the idea of the dress code being anti-Black, claiming it’s just a policy to promote “decorum.” A user wrote, “How is it giving anti Black? A hoodie is one thing but you have to meet people where they are and speak their language. Making a dress code isn’t anti Black it’s establishing decorum.”

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Fox News Digital reached out to the computer science department at NCAT for a statement on the “anti-Black” accusations. It has yet to provide a response.