Round One
Boner Candidate #1: GUNS. GUNS. GUNS.
DYERSVILLE, Iowa (AP) — Police have charged the parents of a Dyersville toddler, saying the boy accidentally shot his mother with an unsecured gun he found in the family home. Police say 21-year-old Meriah Carlyle and 23-year-old Logan Keller have each been charged with child endangerment for leaving a loaded handgun on a bedside table on Nov. 4. Investigators say the 2-year-old found the gun, then accidentally shot his mother, who had to be flown to an Iowa City hospital for life-saving treatment. Police say in a criminal complaint that both parents were in the room with the child where the gun was but didn’t notice the boy had picked up the gun until it fired.
Boner Candidate #2: JUST STACK ‘EM IN THE TRUCK WITH THE REST OF ‘EM.
Andrew T. Cleckley is facing six lawsuits that allege that he and other funeral directors failed to carry out their duties to handle remains respectfully and lawfully. Jonah Markowitz for The New York Times. The grisly discovery captured the tragedy and chaos of the pandemic at its height in New York City: dozens of bodies found decomposing in a pair of trucks parked outside a Brooklyn funeral home, supposedly because it had run out of space. Following an investigation into the Andrew T. Cleckley Funeral Home, the state health commissioner on Monday revoked the funeral director’s license and the mortuary’s business registration, saying he had mishandled the remains of the deceased. Mr. Cleckley was also fined $68,000 in civil penalties. He is already facing six lawsuits accusing him and other funeral directors who operated out of his mortuary of failing to carry out their duties to handle remains respectfully and lawfully. Some families say that their loved ones’ remains were kept in an unrefrigerated truck or otherwise stored improperly.
Boner Candidate #3: A MAN OF REAL INTEGRITY
A sweeping state investigation into the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food under the leadership of former Commissioner Kerry Gibson has identified potential problems with the cannabis grower selection process, inappropriate use of state cars and questionable travel practices. During his whirlwind tenure at the agency before he left to run for Congress, Gibson took state cars on personal trips to Las Vegas and Bear Lake, improperly upgraded his hotel rooms and airplane seats and asked the department to reimburse him for costs he’d already charged to his state purchase card, according to the review released Wednesday morning. The auditors also voiced concern about the way the agency awarded eight lucrative licenses to grow medical cannabis in the state. And the problems called out by the audit extended to his handpicked staff.
Round Two
Boner Candidate #1: THE MEAT COMPANY BETS ON ILLNESS AND DEATH.
A wrongful death lawsuit tied to COVID-19 infections at Tyson Foods’ largest pork processing plant accuses the meatpacking giant of ordering employees to come to work while supervisors privately bet money on how many would get infected with the deadly coronavirus. The family of Isidro Fernandez filed the lawsuit in August saying that Fernandez was exposed to the virus when he reported for work at the Tyson plant in Waterloo, Iowa. Fernandez died in April from COVID-19 complications, leaving behind a wife and children, according to the lawsuit. Fernandez was one of at least five Waterloo plant employees who died of the virus. More than 1,000 workers ― over a third of the facility’s workforce ― became infected, according to the Black Hawk County Health Department. The lawsuit, filed in Black Hawk County, claims Tyson is guilty of a “willful and wanton disregard for workplace safety” and accuses the company of endangering employees by downplaying virus concerns and covering up the outbreak in order to keep them working. As first reported by the Iowa Capital Dispatch, the lawsuit was recently amended to include new allegations against the company and plant officials. One of them is that supervisors at the Waterloo plant began wagering money on how many workers would get COVID-19.
Boner Candidate #2: THAT’S LIKE THE DONKEY CALLING THE BURRO A MULE.
A viral clip from the Senate floor on Monday shows Senator Sherrod Brown, a Democrat from Ohio, and Alaskan Republican Senator Dan Sullivan briefly arguing over masks. In the clip, Brown asks his colleague to wear a mask while speaking, and Sullivan refuses. Many people shared the clip on social media and now another senator is weighing in – Ted Cruz. The Senate was voting to limit debate on Kristi Haskins Johnson’s nomination to be a U.S. District Court judge for the Southern District of Mississippi, according to CSPAN. The video from the Senate session shows Majority Leader Mitch McConnell calling up Brown to speak. Brown begins by voicing his concern about the maskless Sullivan. “I’d start by asking the presiding officer to please wear a mask as he speaks since people below him are…,” Brown says before Sullivan interjects.
Boner Candidate #3: THE NEW WAY FOR POLITICAL FUNDRAISING.
Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) drew backlash on Wednesday for soliciting campaign funds while speaking in the halls of Congress ― a potential violation of Senate ethics rules ― during an interview with Fox News. Loeffler, who will face off against Democrat Raphael Warnock in a runoff election in January, warned Georgia conservatives that “hundreds of millions of dark, liberal money is pouring into our state” ahead of the contest. “That’s why it’s so important that everyone across the country get involved,” Loeffler told Fox News with the pillars of the U.S. Capitol appearing behind her. “They can visit KellyforSenate.com to chip in 5 or 10 bucks, and get involved, volunteer.”
