[WBTW] A North Carolina man is facing multiple charges including aggravated assault after police say he fired multiple shotgun rounds at some in a Publix parking lot on Friday.
Myrtle Beach authorities said Saturday that 34-year-old Kevin Lamar McCoy of Autryville is also facing counts of possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime and unlawful possession of a firearm.
One person was hurt in the incident that happened at the N. Kings Highway store around 5:40 p.m. Police said the confrontation began as a disagreement between two motorists that turned physical.
As the victim was moving away, McCoy fired multiple rounds, police said.
[THEMIDWESTERNER] MYSTERY: UM ‘researcher’ from China jumps to his death on campus after questioning by feds. Death is latest in a series of troubling incidents involving at least nine students from China at the University of Michigan
Chinese University of Michigan “researcher” jumped to his death from a building on campus last month after he was questioned by federal officials, sparking demands for an investigation by the Chinese government.
Neither the University of Michigan nor the U.S. government have released any details on the death.
“We are reaching out to share the sad news of the death of an assistant research scientist employed in the lab of Zetian Mi, who fell from an upper story of the GG Brown building last night,” read a March 20 internal email from UM’s Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department cited by both World Socialist Web Site and Eye on Digital China.
Ten days later, the Chinese Consulate General in Chicago confirmed the incident followed “questioning by US law enforcement personnel.”
“For some time now, the U.S. has overstretched the concept of national security for political manipulation and groundlessly interrogated and harassed Chinese students and scholars,” the consulate wrote in a post to X. “These moves infringe on Chinese citizens’ legitimate and lawful rights and interests, poison the atmosphere of people-to-people and cultural exchanges between China and the U.S., and create a serious chilling effect.
“China solemnly calls on the U.S. to carry out a full investigation, give the family of the victim and the Chinese side a responsible explanation, stop any discriminatory law enforcement targeting Chinese students and scholars in the U.S., and stop imposing wrongful convictions,” the post read.
The post echoed comments from Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian.
“China will continue to take what is necessary to firmly defend Chinese citizens’ legitimate and lawful rights and interests,” Lin Jian said.
A source in the University of Michigan Postdoctoral Researchers Organization identified the victim to WSWS as Danho Wang, an assistant research scientist focused on “III-nitride Materials; Optoelectronic Devices; Photoelectrochemical Devices; Energy Conversion; Molecular Beam Epitaxy,” according to Wang’s profile on the UM website.
“My research stands at the intersection of interdisciplinary electrical engineering, material science, chemistry, and photonic/optoelectroics,” Wang wrote in an introduction on ResearchGate, researcher recruitment site. “Specifically, I delve into the exploration, synthesis, and characterization of III-nitride semiconductor thin films and nanostructures, which are crucial for advancing the next generation of electronic and photonic devices. Recently, my research scope has broadened to include the study of ferroelectric ScAlN materials and low-dimensional semiconductors.”
Wang’s death marks the latest in a series of troubling incidents involving at least nine students from China at the University of Michigan in recent years.
Roughly a week after Wang’s death, UM acting president Domenico Grasso testified in a congressional hearing titled “US Universities Under Siege: Foreign Espionage, Stolen Innovation, & the National Security Threat,” outlining UM’s collaboration with federal officials to counter concerns about Chinese influence.
Beyond ending its partnership with Shanghai Jiao Tong University last year, “the university has established a comprehensive program to safeguard our research from America’s adversaries,” Grasso said.
Grasso told the House Committee on Education and the Workforce the decision to end UM’s partnership with the Chinese university came “after discussion with this committee and the House Select Committee on the CCP.”
“We have a special bond with this committee as three of our close Michigan friends and neighbors, chairman (Tim) Walberg (R-Tipton) and congresswomen (Lisa) McLain (R-Bruce Twp.) and (Haley) Stevens (D-Birmingham) serve on it,” he said. “We look forward to continuing our dialogue with this committee to ensure that the interests of Michigan and of the nation are protected from both known threats we face today and those that may occur in the future.”
In September, Chinese national and UM researcher Chengxuan Han was sentenced to three months in jail after pleading guilty to three counts of smuggling and making false statements to U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials.
Han admitted to sending multiple packages with biological samples of round worms to individuals at a UM laboratory where she was invited to work, though she initially denied the crimes when questioned by the FBI and CBP last year, according to the US Attorney’s Office.
Han’s June 2025 arrest followed less than a week after US Attorney Jerome Gorgon announced charges of smuggling, false statements, and visa fraud against UM researcher Yunqing Jian, 33, and her boyfriend, Zunyong Liu, 34, both Chinese nationals.
“The FBI arrested Jian in connection with allegations related to Jian’s and Liu’s smuggling into America a fungus called Fusarium graminearum, which scientific literature classifies as a potential agroterrorism weapon,” according to the attorney’s office. “This noxious fungus causes ‘head blight,’ a disease of wheat, barley, maize, and rice, and is responsible for billions of dollars in economic losses worldwide each year.”
Jian pleaded guilty to smuggling charges and lying to the FBI and was sentenced in November to five months in jail, time served. Liu fled to China and “is unlikely to return to the U.S.,” The Associated Press reports.
Another FBI counterintelligence investigation resulted in charges against five UM graduates from China in October 2024 for spying on Camp Grayling National Guard Base during a military training with Taiwanese soldiers in 2023.
Authorities allege the group was found with cameras near military vehicles, tents and classified communications equipment as soldiers conducted Northern Strike, one of the largest training exercises in the U.S.
The Chinese nationals charged in that case left the country following graduation in May 2024, but have outstanding arrest warrants in the U.S.
Also in October, Chinese UM student Haoxiang Gao, 20, cast an illegal ballot that was counted in the 2024 election. Gao surrendered a Chinese passport to face state charges, but used a second passport to board a plane to Shanghai in January 2025, according to the federal criminal complaint cited by The Detroit News.
A total of six students died at the University of Michigan in the last year, while 46 have died since July 2020, according to MLive.
#1
...or just the results of trying to date American female college students or faculty. If you notice the American males avoiding them, that may have been a hint.
[NYP] A veteran "60 Minutes" correspondent ripped the famed CBS programming as a "snake pit" plagued by "no civility."
Steve Kroft, who spent 30 years as one of the mainstay journalists on "60 Minutes," told podcaster Bill O’Reilly that if he were offered the chance to do it again, he would respond: "No, I probably wouldn’t do it again...I hated it."
The 80-year-old former correspondent described the prestigious newsmagazine not as a dream job, but as a brutal grind and psychological battlefield that wore him down over time.
Kroft said the job was a relentless, all-consuming slog — "24 hours a day" — with constant travel, writing, editing and screenings that never seemed to stop. Many jobs and assignments are like that, that's why it's called 'work.'
"You may get a couple hours... then getting on jets... coming back and spending three or four days writing... then starting it all over again," Kroft told O’Reilly’s "We’ll Do It Live" podcast on Thursday.
Before joining 60 Minutes, Kroft said he got a stark warning from Dan Rather about the show’s cutthroat culture — recalling that Rather told him the newsroom was filled with "big cats" who could take you down with a single swipe, leaving you "limping for six months."
Kroft said the warning proved accurate once he arrived. The survival instinct kicked in. So he joined in and became part of the problem.
"There was no civility at 60 Minutes," Kroft told O’Reilly, describing a workplace where basic decency was absent and suspicion was constant.
"If there was civility... you better check your wallet," he added, suggesting even friendliness came with ulterior motives. Highly informative. No indication he'll be sending back any of his pay cheques.
#3
The guy worked for 30 years at a job he hated? I don't recognize his name, but one might think that being a famous journalisms dude would open some doors and other possibilities.
#5
The difference between journalism and reporting.
A journalist comes up with a story to push, and THEN looks for tidbits to offer as confirmation, then writes the story.That's why he says he spent so much time writing.
A reporter hears something, then investigates what's going on, and lets the story and facts speak for themselves.
One journalism trick is to start out with a paragraph or two sounding sympathetic to one side.... and then spending the entire rest of the piece attacking that side. This deceptive practice was taught to me by an English Composition teacher who was an occasional stringer.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
04/05/2026 22:02 Comments ||
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#10
Wormwood and his contemporaries kept me company on the exercise bike at one point. He’s a comfort read going back to my ventures beyond Narnia as a schoolgirl. :-)
[Townhall] Late last month, we learned that Jose Medina-Medina, an illegal immigrant from Venezuela, not only murdered 18-year-old Loyola College student Sheridan Gorman as she walked around Chicago with friends, but that he missed a court appearance because he was hospitalized with tuberculosis (TB), a highly contagious infection that primarily impacts the lungs (but can harm other organs).
In March of 2024, Chicago was also the epicenter of a measles outbreak, thanks to the open border policies of the Biden administration as well as Illinois' sanctuary policies. After spending all of 2020, 2021, and most of 2022 insisting we had to keep COVID restrictions in place to "flatten the curve," Democrats were quick to open wide our borders to all comers, regardless of their vaccination status and while ignoring any diseases they may have carried.
Now another virus is on the rise in Chicago, and this time it's HIV. Infections rates grew nearly 30 percent between 2022 and 2024, and it's likely thanks once again to the Democrats' love of illegal immigration.
BTW: The England & the EU are seeing it also.
Their Open Door has the 3rd world bringing in 3rd world diseases with them. Diseases, that modern nations have "HAD" under semi-control prior to the illegal influx.
[RedState] Britain's prestigious Harrow School used to be quite the institution, a school for Britain's up-and-coming youths; Sir Winston Churchill is among their distinguished former students. And, one would think that the previously staid and stolid British traditions would continue in such a school, even as it seeks to open branches in other countries. Now, we might question the wisdom of a British school opening branches in the Middle East; I know I would.
So not the school in England, just those branch thingies in Arabia or somewhere like that. Still, were I an Arab parent paying pots of money to get my kid the best traditional English education, I’d be seriously annoyed they were wasting my kid’s very expensive time on lessons he could be getting at home instead of teaching him things I couldn’t.
I saw exactly that attitude when we were expats in Brussels, sending the trailing daughters to preschool and kindergarten respectively at the International School there. One of the other moms, a lovely and intelligent Danish woman married to a chief financial officer of an international firm, was appalled at the first teacher meeting of the year to be told that her child was struggling to learn to read and write because the five year old did not know how to draw a face with all the parts in the right places — apparently that is key to be able to draw letters. Mama was indignant that the teachers were talking to her about this instead of just handling it — she was paying the school a hellacious sum to educate the child, after all. (Mr. Wife’s company covered the tuition for the trailing daughters as part of the expat package, thank goodness — else the trailing daughters would have been going to the local public school. Mr. Wife was just a group leader at the time.
But when the British schools cave to Islam to the point where Sir Winston's alma mater is giving lessons on wife-beating, that's several steps too far.
The Telegraph has spent months investigating what children are being taught in the UK’s top private schools operating in the Middle East. Textbooks reveal that, despite the quintessential Britishness they peddle, many of these schools have been teaching pupils how to deal with "rebellious" wives.
Headings in one include: "First: good counselling", "Second: refusing bed-sharing" and "Third stage: beating lightly". The book tells pupils that the last step refers to "beating for the purpose of remediation".
It says: "Its objective is to safeguard marital life against breakdown and maintain companionship and social intimacy. A husband is not allowed to hit his wife using a whip or stick or in her face. He is to use a siwak (small teeth cleaning twig) or a light handkerchief."
Yeah, that doesn't make it any better. We should note, in all fairness, that these lessons aren't being taught to British students, but only to local, Muslim attendees. Again, that doesn't make it any better.
[Just The News] The government of Cuba plans to release more than 2,000 prisoners as a humanitarian gesture as the Trump administration ramps up its efforts to pressure Havana into capitulating.
"As part of the process for granting prison benefits established by law and in accordance with Article 90, Section II, of the Constitution of the Republic, it was decided to release 2,010 inmates through a pardon approved by the Government of Cuba," the Cuban government posted on X.
Havana characterized the development as part of a regular practice amid Holy Week.
"This is the second release of prisoners this year, taking place in the context of the religious celebrations of Holy Week, which is a customary practice in our criminal justice system and part of the trajectory," the government posted.
President Donald Trump, for his part, has hinted at what he called a "friendly takeover" of Cuba and repeatedly suggested that the communist regime's days are numbered. He has not, however, significantly elaborated on plans to end the regime.
The Mariel boatlift was a mass emigration of Cubans who traveled from Cuba's Mariel Harbor to the United States between April 15 and October 31, 1980.
The arrival of the refugees in the United States created political problems for U.S. president Jimmy Carter. The Carter administration struggled to develop a consistent response to the immigrants. The Mariel boatlift was ended by mutual agreement between the two governments in late October 1980. By then, an estimated 125,000 Cubans had reached Florida.
[JTN] Minnesota’s unemployment rate rose in January to its highest level in five years, as job growth stalled and state leaders pointed to economic disruptions tied to recent federal immigration operations.
The state’s unemployment rate increased 0.2% – to 4.4% – the highest since early 2021 and slightly above the national rate of 4.3%, which dropped 0.1% in January.
The increase comes as Minnesota officials say Operation Metro Surge, the Trump administration's crackdown on illegal migrants in the state, had measurable economic impacts across the state.
"To the extent that federal actions related to immigration and tariffs have contributed to this, I think it’s very fair to say Minnesota has borne more than its share of those impacts," state Department of Employment and Economic Development Commissioner Matt Varilek said during a virtual news conference Thursday.
According to the most-recent data, which was released by the state the same day, Minnesota’s labor force shrank by 4,562 people, to just over 3.17 million. Employment fell by 9,381 workers, while the number of unemployed residents rose by 4,819. The labor force participation rate edged down to 68.2%.
Job growth in the state was effectively flat, with a gain of just 100 jobs in January on a seasonally-adjusted basis. Nationally, total non-farm employment increased by 130,000 jobs.
Private sector employment in Minnesota declined by 900 jobs, while government employment rose by 1,000.
Several sectors posted job gains, led by educational and health services, which added 5,000 jobs. Construction also saw strong growth, adding 3,700 jobs, while other services gained 1,100 jobs. Government employment increased by 1,000 jobs, and mining and logging added 100.
At the same time, key consumer-facing industries showed sharper declines—particularly sectors closely tied to tourism.
Leisure and hospitality employment fell by 4,000 jobs, or 1.5%, in January, marking the steepest proportional decline of any super-sector in the state. Losses were split across both major components, with arts, entertainment and recreation down 700 jobs and accommodation and food services down 3,300.
On a yearly basis, the sector has shed more than 6,200 jobs in Minnesota, a 2.4% decline, even as the same sector posted slight growth nationally.
State leaders have increasingly tied the economic slowdown in Minnesota to the fallout from Operation Metro Surge and a related federal immigration effort, Operation PARRIS.
on March 25, Minnesota Democratc Gov. Tim Walz signed an executive order creating a council to document the impacts of those operations, saying many Minnesotans’ experiences have yet to be fully recorded.
“Minnesotans know what happened in their communities, but too many stories have yet to be heard, documented, and shared,” Walz said. “For months, families lived in fear, children were separated from their parents, and our neighbors were subjected to racial profiling and unlawful detentions."
State officials have said the operations also caused widespread economic disruption.
State Auditor Julie Blaha previously told The Center Square the enforcement surge was already creating ripple effects for local governments and economies.
“All of that chaos together does hit local governments,” Blaha said, adding her office was already seeing it "anecdotally."
Local officials have reported significant economic losses during the height of the operation. In Minneapolis alone, city officials estimated a $203.1 million hit to the local economy in January, including tens of millions in lost wages, reduced small business revenue and hotel cancellations.
Walz said the newly created council will help document the harm and the state’s response, adding that communities also showed “compassion, courage, and resilience” during the disruption.
Looking at broader trends, Minnesota’s recent job growth has also slowed. The state added 800 jobs from November through January, a 0.03% increase, trailing the national growth rate of 0.11% over the same period.
#3
It does not seem like many folks in Minnesota were working to begin with. Is it too much to ask, to put the Somali money couriers on the unemployment list?
Posted by: Super Hose ||
04/05/2026 15:39 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[WBTW] A North Carolina man is facing multiple charges including aggravated assault after police say he fired multiple shotgun rounds at some in a Publix parking lot on Friday.
[RedState] Britain's prestigious Harrow School used to be quite the institution, a school for Britain's up-and-coming youths; Sir Winston Churchill is among their distinguished former students. And, one would think that the previously staid and stolid British traditions would continue in such a school, even as it seeks to open branches in other countries. Now, we might question the wisdom of a British school opening branches in the Middle East; I know I would. 
