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The remnants of Hurricane Harvey carried its wrath up the Mississippi Delta on Thursday, but not before hammering the Gulf Coast with more punishing cloudbursts and growing threats that included “black smoke” pouring from a crippled chemical plant and the collapse of the drinking water system in a Texas city.

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The Washington Post 1 hr ago Alex Horton, Mark Berman
Video by Fox News
CROSBY, Texas - The remnants of Hurricane Harvey carried its wrath up the Mississippi Delta on Thursday, but not before hammering the Gulf Coast with more punishing cloudbursts and growing threats that included "black smoke" pouring from a crippled chemical plant and the collapse of the drinking water system in a Texas city.

Even as Houston saw signs of relief in the blue sky and slowly draining waters, the storm's fury was far from over to the east and beyond - with flash flood watches posted as far away as southern Ohio. The National Weather Service said 4 inches of rain was expected to soak parts of Arkansas, Kentucky and Tennessee with up to 10 inches possible in some isolated areas in western Tennessee.

In Crosby, Texas, on the northeast outskirts of Houston, two blasts rocked a chemical plant left without power by floodwaters, the facility's French operators said, citing Harris County officials. "We were notified by the Harris County Emergency Operations Center of two explosions and black smoke coming from the" plant, said a statement by the company, Arkema.
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But a later Twitter post by the county's sheriff, Ed Gonzalez, raised questions about what occurred. Gonzalez wrote that there was "some type of release" at the plant, but it was "not believed to be explosion."

Still, the operators Arkema warned that more blasts could come. "A threat of additional explosion remains," said the statement.

Authorities on Wednesday set up an evacuation zone in a 1.5-mile radius from the plant. But the risks could also could be carried by the winds. One Harris County police deputy was hospitalized after inhaling fumes from the plant, and nine others sought medical care as a precaution, according to a tweet by the county sheriff's office.

The conditions of the deputy was not immediately known. Harris County police described the vapors as a "nontoxic irritant."

The plant manufactures organic peroxides, a family of compounds used in everything from pharmaceuticals to construction materials such as counter tops and pipes. But the stores must remain cold otherwise it can combust.

An even greater potential dilemma faced the city of Beaumont near the Louisiana border after the water system pumps failed after being swamped by spillover from the swollen Neches River. A statement from city officials said a secondary water source from nearby wells was also lost.

To the east - in the town of Orange, Texas - the water rose so high and so fast that people had to rush from their homes.

"It was unbelievable," said Robin Clark, who was ferried, along with her mother and three dogs, out of her home on a volunteer's boat.

Dozens of rescued residents stood in a pelting rain outside a Market Basket supermarket waiting for what was next.

"We don't know what's going to happen," said Keeleigh Amodeo, 15, who was waiting with her sister and mother.

She and others had been told they would be getting on a bus and be taken to a shelter. Where? No one knew. And the buses had failed to show yet. Several people noted that another shelter in town had to be evacuated after it was flooded.

Orange and other small West Texas communities were rendered islands as Harvey dumped record amounts of rain. Interstate 10, which runs close by, was closed to everyone but volunteers in pickup trucks with boats and emergency personnel. Two to three feet of water covered parts of the interstate.

Particularly hard-hit was the coastal city of Port Arthur, which local officials said is now largely underwater. Officials estimated that water had entered a third of the city's buildings.

Max Bowl, a bowling alley and arcade, had become a way station for residents fleeing the rising water - a dry place with food, water and donated clothing. Getting to the building required a boat on one side to navigate the deep waters. On the other, all it took was a good pair of boots to wade through ankle-deep water.

Overhead, Coast Guard and military helicopters flew past.

"It's been chaotic, to say the least," said Mason Simmons, a mechanical engineering student at Lamar University, standing with a group of friends and family on the curb of Max Bowl. They were working as volunteers to help people off boats or out of pickup trucks.

Simmons said he's seen hundreds of people in the roughly six hours he'd been at the bowling alley. Someone nearby said one boat rescued 60 people.

"I think the most incredible part is it's been community organized, really," he said. "There's no one person leading anything. We're just doing what we can."

Inside Max Bowl, some people slept at the edge of bowling lanes. Luggage and plastic bags filled with clothing competed for space with racks holding bowling balls.

In nearby Beaumont, roads flooded and businesses shuttered as large parking lots were eerily empty. The carpet of a fifth-floor Hampton Inn was soggy after strong winds blasted rain through the inner workings of the room's air conditioner Tuesday evening.

Fast-food restaurants and other eateries were closed around the hotel, leaving evacuees wet, stranded and hungry.

Hotel staff laid out impromptu ingredients of the classic Texas dish of Frito pie: chili, ground beef, Fritos and tortilla chips, canned cheese and jalapeños, sending its guests back to their rooms full and earning gratitude the next morning.

A Hampton Inn employee confirmed Wednesday the chili was served without beans, a faithful rendering of the traditional Texas recipe.

New Orleans officials on Wednesday expressed relief that the city did not land in Hurricane Harvey's destructive path and encouraged residents to support those impacted by the storm in Texas.

New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu noted that Houston welcomed many displaced New Orleanians after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

"This week marked the 12th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina," Landrieu said. "No city was more welcoming for the citizens of New Orleans than the people of Houston. ... This is our opportunity to begin to pay it forward and support those who stood by us."

Landrieu said that, since Katrina, the city had erected among the world's largest storm surge barriers and most powerful pumping stations. Though pumps had failed in days before Harvey made landfall, city officials said 93 percent of the city's drainage pumps are now operable.

Slideshow by photo services
Officials announced that the 2017 AdvoCare Texas Kickoff game, which was set to take place in Houston and feature the Louisiana State University and Brigham Young University football teams, will instead be held this Saturday at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. Proceeds from tickets, concessions and parking will still go to organizers in Texas, said Stephen Perry, chief executive of New Orleans' Convention and Visitors Bureau.

"We're not doing this for us. We're doing this for Texas," Perry said.

But the state of Louisiana did not escape Harvey's deluge completely. Mike Steele, communications director of the Louisiana Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, said 368 evacuees are being sheltered in the Lake Charles area, with that number growing as people are brought in from communities on the Texas-Louisiana border.

Officials opened Burton Coliseum in Lake Charles to handle the overflow of people displaced from their homes, including Texas residents.

State officials said Louisiana has offered to provide additional shelter space to Texas and is prepared to take on as many as 3,400 Texans in Shreveport.

Louisiana residents themselves were suffering from power outages, and Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) said hundreds of roads across the state were flooded.

"Southwest Louisiana, for now, remains the center of gravity as it relates to this storm in Louisiana," Edwards said during a news conference Wednesday afternoon. "I would again remind people in Louisiana that we have another 24 hours or so before this storm is out of our state."
Berman reported from Washington. Todd C. Frankel in Orange, Tex., Lee Powell in Port Arthur, Tex., Ashley Cusick in New Orleans, Leslie Fain in Lake Charles, La., and Brian Murphy in Washington contributed to this report.

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'Black smoke' streams from storm-crippled chemical plant in Texas as Harvey's wrath moves inland

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The Washington Post 1 hr ago Alex Horton, Mark Berman Video by Fox News CROSBY, Texas - The remnants of Hurricane Harvey carried its wrath up the Mississippi Delta on Thursday, but not before hammering the Gulf Coast with more punishing cloudbursts and growing threats that included "black smoke" pouring from a crippled chemical plant and the collapse of the drinking water system in a Texas city.

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Georgia police at DUI stop saying "Remember we only kill black people officer has been charged under the consent of the racial acts

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A lieutenant from a police department in Georgia is under investigation after a dash-cam video obtained by Channel 2 Action News appears to show the officer telling a driver during a DUI stop, "Remember, we only kill black people."

Lt. Greg Abbott of the Cobb County Police Department reportedly asked the driver to grab her cell phone, but she replied she's afraid to move her hands because she has "just seen way too many videos of cops..."

Abbot responds, "But, you're not black. Remember, we only shoot black people. We only kill black people, right? All the videos you've seen, have you seen the black people get killed?"

The incident occurred in July 2016, and it was brought to light on Wednesday after Channel 2 Action News' open-records request on Friday.

Police Chief Mike Register said Abbot has been placed on administrative duties until the investigation is complete.

Lance LoRusso, Abbott's attorney, told the station in a statement that the 28-year veteran is cooperating with the investigation, and that "his comments must be observed in their totality to understand their context."

"He was attempting to de-escalate a situation involving an uncooperative passenger. In context, his comments were clearly aimed at attempting to gain compliance by using the passenger's own statements and reasoning to avoid making an arrest," said LoRusso.

Suri Chadha Jimenez, a representative of the driver, said she believes the officer's response was sarcastic because the woman, "gave him some lip," but nonetheless said, "it makes you cringe when you hear it. It's unacceptable."

Register, who was not police chief during the time of the occurence, told Channel 2 that Abbott was a good officer and never had any racial complaints. He added "no matter what context it was said, it shouldn't have been said," and that it is being dealt with "head-on."

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Georgia police officer at DUI stop: 'We only kill black people'

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A lieutenant from a police department in Georgia is under investigation after a dash-cam video obtained by Channel 2 Action News appears to show the officer telling a driver during a DUI stop, "Remember, we only kill black people." Lt.

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the little boy was smoking cigarettes

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But this boy has a tumultuous past and a reputation that precedes him, having undergone a recovery most children will never face.

Six years ago, Aldi Suganda, also known as Aldi Rizal, was a 2-year-old chain smoker addicted to cigarettes, smoking packs each day. "It was hard for me to stop," he said. "If I am not smoking, my mouth taste is sour and my head feel dizzy.

"I am happy now. I feel more enthusiastic, and my body is feeling fresh," he said.

He became a global sensation as the "chain-smoking toddler," with video clips of him puffing excessively on an endless cigarette supply watched by millions around the world.

His mother, Diana, thinks back to that period and recoils at the memory. Her son would get angry, she remembers, and throw tantrums if she withheld cigarettes from him or failed to give him money to obtain them. "He (would) start to smash his head to the wall. He was crazy, hurting himself if he didn't get a cigarette," she said.

People would accuse her of being a bad mother and regularly question her parenting skills, she said. "I am a weak mom. He always threaten me if I didn't give him money. ... I (was) afraid he (was) going to die."

Aldi is the youngest of three boys born to Diana and her husband, who requested not to be named. But he is far from the only child who picked up the habit across the islands of Indonesia: More than 267,000 children there are estimated to use tobacco products every day.

A childhood habit

Diana believes Aldi's addiction began with peer pressure and exposure to smokers. He accompanied her each morning to the market where she sells vegetables grown on their land. People there could have taught him to smoke, and he could easily get cigarettes by asking at the market, she said.

In many regions of the world, this might seem unrealistic and like an excuse, but in Indonesia, it's highly likely. The country has the highest percentage of male smokers globally and among the highest rate of adolescent and child smokers in the world -- fueled by lack of control over advertising, relaxed sales and low prices.

Today, Aldi is a healthy young boy who attends school and gets good grades, but to get here, it took years of rehabilitation with the country's leading child psychologist, Dr. Seto Mulyadi, chairman of the nation's National Commission for Child Protection. His road also didn't end with his tobacco cravings. Soon after his recovery, he replaced tobacco with food and began to overeat as a means of compensation, eventually becoming obese.

But a second bout of rehabilitation to tackle this overeating created the healthy, stable young boy sitting beside his mother today.

Mulyadi believes the one benefit of working with children who have an addiction is their mental agility. In Aldi's case, his age and intelligence meant he responded quickly to his treatment, in which Mulyadi distracted the 8-year-old with running, climbing and playing while slowly reducing the number of cigarettes he smoked each day. But treatment was intense and required Aldi to go to Jakarta for a few months to be with Mulyadi every day.

"He was just 3 years old, and he smoked four packs a day," Mulyadi said. "(But) I was confident because he is still very young. Psychologically, as a child, he is very flexible and easier to be cured."

And cured he is -- at least for now.

"I don't want to smoke anymore. I don't want to get sick," said Aldi, who now wants to help prevent other children going through a similar ordeal. "Please don't smoke. Don't even try it. It's hard to quit."

In 2013, more than 57% of men were reported to be smokers in Indonesia and more than 42% of teens ages 13 to 15, according to the Tobacco Atlas, compared with 17% and 8.2%, respectively, in the United States. It's estimated that more than 217,000 people die from diseases linked to tobacco use each year in Indonesia, including heart disease and respiratory conditions such as emphysema and lung cancer.

With smoking so commonplace and numbers remaining steady or even rising among some groups in recent years, Aldi's message could go unheard, believes Dr. Lily Sulistyowati, director of prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases at Indonesia's Ministry of Health.

"I'm very worried about smoking in Indonesia," she said, especially among teens ages 15 to 19.

No sign of decline

While rates in most countries fell between 2013 and 2016, the rate of smokers under 18 in Indonesia rose from 7.2% to 8.8%. In a population of more than 261 million, that means millions of youth continue to smoke today.

But more worryingly, among 10- to 14-year-olds, more than 3% were smokers in both 2013 and 2016 -- the majority of them boys -- and more than 18% of boys and more than 9% of girls 10 to 14 had tried a cigarette, according to Indonesia Basic Health Researchdata reported in 2013.

The research also found that 1.5% of boys and 1.4% of girls 5 to 9 years old had tried a cigarette.

Sulistyowati believes the problem is worse in rural areas and among poorer populations. "Poor people are spending their money on cigarettes," she said.

In 2013, the richest fifth of the population used 7.1% of their monthly expenditures on tobacco and betel leaf to wrap tobacco, while the poorest fifth spent 12.5%, according to Indonesia's Central Bureau of Statistics. The poorest fifth spent similar proportions of their wages on grains and tobacco -- 15.5% and 12.5%, respectively -- and spent six times more on tobacco than on dairy and egg products.

Rural regions also tend to be populated with people with lower incomes. There, parents'priorities are working and earning money for their families, which can leave children vulnerable to influences such as smoking while parents are distracted. "(These areas) are a different situation. Parents focus on how to work and get money, not on the health of their children," Sulistyowati said.

In addition, children begin working young to earn money that they can then spend on cigarettes, said Dr. Aman Pulungan, president of the Indonesian Pediatric Society, who has been monitoring and working on the issue of childhood smoking for decades. "It's country life," he said.

Smoking among children and teens is still a problem in the cities, highlights Silistyowati, but there, people know that the habit is bad for their health and children instead hide their addiction from their parents, she said. "They try it with friends," she said.

This was the case for Icha, 16, in the capital, Jakarta, who began smoking when she was 13 after a friend offered a cigarette to smoke together. "The first time, I felt dizzy and coughed a lot," she said. "But later on I (felt) the taste is good."

Icha now smokes at least one pack of 12 cigarettes each day and says half of herclassmates also smoke, some in front of their parents. Her own parents tried to ban her from smoking but after little success now just ask that she try to reduce her habit.

"There is no parental control," Pulungan said."They just do it, because no one says no."

Pulungan added that many parents don't fully understand the risks associated with smoking and that its prevalence among adults helps that ignorance persist, particularly in rural areas.

Part of the problem, Sulistyowati and other experts say, is the ease of access and pervasiveness of smoking in Indonesian culture.

Marketing and image invasion

"The problem is big," Pulungan said, adding that smoking has been an issue in Indonesia for more than 40 years. "But it's getting worse."

He believes that in addition to peer influence, the root causes of the epidemic include advertising, lack of laws -- or enforcement -- in public spaces, sponsorship of venues by big tobacco companies and the way cigarettes are sold.

Nonsmoking sections in restaurants are very small, he said. In addition, tobacco companies are still sponsoring sporting and musical events as well as public buildings or clubs. This sponsorship has come down in recent years, he said, but he now believes that hidden advertising is growing -- through TV and culture. "(Kids) think if you want to become a man, you have to smoke," he said.

The issues of advertising and masculinity linked to smoking faced many other countries just a decade or two ago, but while rates across the West declined, companies and efforts to boost tobacco interest transferred to countries where bans and laws did not prohibit their existence, such as Indonesia, Pulungan believes.

In rural areas, "the small shops, grocery shops, are sponsored by cigarette companies, and they can put adverts anywhere," he said. "No one controls this." He also mentions sports clubs that have tobacco companies as part of their names.

"Advertising is of more interest to the youth," Sulistyowati said, adding that companies entice adolescents by associating cigarettes with success and fame. "Schools can get sponsorship" from big companies, she said.

Again, while many countries have had bans against this for some time, Indonesia has no national laws in place -- though some municipalities have introduced them, she said, including Western Sumatra.

Of the big six global tobacco companies, Phillip Morris International dominates the market in Indonesia, according to 2013 data from the Tobacco Atlas.

Sampoerna, an affiliate of PT Philip Morris Indonesia and part of Philip Morris International Inc., said in an email to CNN that it is "firmly opposed to youth smoking," and that it does not intentionally market products to anyone under the age of 18 years old. The statement said it "makes every effort" to not place cigarette advertisements within 100 meters of educational facilities. The statement also said, "given the large number of retail outlets across Indonesia, mistakes can occur, but we do our absolute best to ensure that we are only communicating with adult smokers."

The company further commented that it supports "fair and balanced regulation at both the national and provincial/municipality levels," but that "the lack of harmonized regulation across the country causes confusion and difficulty in compliance for industry participants." In 2013, Sampoerna introduced a program that uses educational activities and materials to raise awareness among retailers and the public about preventing cigarette sales to children.

On the government side, the Ministry of Health is now working with the Ministries of Education and Communication to helpprohibit sponsorship and advertising, as well as the Ministry of Transport to implement and enforce existing smoking bans on public transport.

Almost half of the country's municipalities have regulations in place for smoke-free areas, said Sulistyowati, and universities have committed to having smoke-free campuses through the Ministry of Education. Graphic health warnings were also introduced on cigarette packets in 2014 to put people off the habit.

But "it all depends on the commitment of the local head, or mayor, of a district," Sulistyowati said. "Indonesia is a big country," at more than 1.9 million square kilometers (more than 740,000 square miles).

Easy access and affordability

The final hurdle is the cost and ease with which people can buy cigarettes: They can be bought individually -- which makes them more affordable to people with lower incomes -- and a pack of 12 can cost as little as $1 at most vendors and kiosks, said Sulitsyowati.

All 34 provinces have had regulations in place since 2012 to prohibit the sale of individual cigarettes, but enforcement has not been that effective.

"They buy one cigarette, not a pack usually ... and everywhere you go, you can buy one cigarette, so it's easy," Pulungan said. "Shops easily sell them."

One kiosk vendor in Jakarta,who did not provide his name, said most children buy individual cigarettes from him even though selling them in this form is breaking the law. "Everyone sells cigarettes to them," he said.

Globally, experts agree that one of the strongest tobacco-control policies has been taxation. The rising cost of the habit, linked to higher taxes, has meant that many can no longer afford to smoke, and those who can smoke provide revenue for anti-smoking campaigns and quitting support services, to name a few options.

"The evidence suggests increasing pricing is the single most effective way to reduce demand," said Vaughan Rees, director of the Center for Global Tobacco Control at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, in a previous report by CNN.

"In states where we see the highest tax rates, we see the lowest prevalence," he said, highlighting New York City, where former Mayor Michael Bloomberg introduced city taxes on top of state taxes in 2010.

In Indonesia, "the price of cigarettes is very cheap," Sulistyowati said. "Everyone can buy them."

Pushing for change

Now, the Ministry of Health is working to align with other ministries as well as international organizations, such as the World Health Organization, to tackle the appeal of cigarettes once and for all. This includes aligning with the WHO's Tobacco Free Initiative and its strategy to reverse the global tobacco epidemic, known as MPOWER, which features six policies that have been proved to make an impact, such as protecting people from smoke, enforcing bans on advertising, and raising taxes.

The ministry also hopes to provide greater support for people trying to quit smoking and to increase public awareness about tobacco's harms -- as well as push harder for the country to join the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, a global public health treaty formed in 2005 to tackle the global tobacco epidemic. Today, 181 states have signed the convention. Indonesia is not one of them.

With all this eventually in place, Aldi's message may finally reach those who need to hear it: young children facing the allure of smoking tobacco.

Though cases like Aldi's seem very rare on the surface, there are similar ones in Indonesia that don't get serious attention, said Mulyadi, who treated Aldi.

"Aldi was very lucky because in his case, we get a fast response from the government and public. ... Local and international media give him big attention," he said. "Other children are not that lucky."

The Indonesian government is not strict enough, he said. "As long as cigarette ads are spread out massively on TV, radio, newspapers, outdoor signage, everywhere, the problem of child smokers will get worse and worse."

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chain-smoking children: indonesia's ongoing tobacco epidemic - cnn

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But this boy has a tumultuous past and a reputation that precedes him, having undergone a recovery most children will never face. Six years ago, Aldi Suganda, also known as Aldi Rizal, was a 2-year-old chain smoker addicted to cigarettes, smoking packs each day. "It was hard for me to stop," he said.

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Wells fargo uncovers up to 1.4 million more fake accounts
Total found:3.5 million

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Wells Fargo has uncovered up to 1.4 million more fake accounts after digging deeper into the bank's broken sales culture.

The findings show that Wells Fargo's problems are worse than the bank previously admitted to when the scandal began almost a year ago.

Wells Fargo now says it has found a total of up to 3.5 million potentially fake bank and credit card accounts, up from its earlier tally of approximately 2.1 million. In other words, there are two-thirds more fake accounts than previously realized.

The additional fake accounts were discovered by a previously announced analysis that went back to January 2009 and that further reviewed the original May 2011 to mid-2015 period.

About 190,000 accounts were slapped with unnecessary fees for these accounts, Wells Fargo said. That's up from 130,000 previously.

Wells Fargo also discovered a new problem: thousands of customers were also enrolled in online bill pay without their authorization. The review found 528,000 potentially unauthorized online bill pay enrollments.

Related: Wells Fargo accused of ripping off mom-and-pop shops

Wells Fargo blamed unrealistic sales goals placed on employees for encouraging the unauthorized bill pay and bank account openings.

"We apologize to everyone who was harmed by unacceptable sales practices that occurred in our retail bank," Wells Fargo CEO Tim Sloan said in a statement.

Wells Fargo is trying to make things right by scrapping its sales goals, installing new management and paying out millions in refunds.

Wells Fargo said it will now pay a total of $6.1 million to refund customers for unauthorized bank and credit card accounts, up from $3.3 million previously.

The bank also promised to pay $910,000 to refund customers for the 528,000 potentially improper online bill pay enrollments. The review of online bill pay was required by the September 2016 settlement.

Additionally, Wells Fargo has agreed to a $142 million national class action settlement to cover fake accounts that were opened back to 2002. That settlement received preliminary approval from a federal judge in July.

Related: Wells Fargo customer: It felt like my car was held as extortion

Senator Elizabeth Warren, a fierce critic of Wells Fargo, called the discovery of more fake accounts "unbelievable" on Twitter. The Democrat renewed her calls for Congress to hold more Wells Fargo hearings and for the Federal Reserve to remove board members who served during the scandal.

"I don't know what they're waiting for," Warren said.

Wells Fargo declined to comment on Warren's tweets, but said its management and board have "taken many steps" to "make things right," including installing new leadership and holding executives accountable by clawing back compensation.

The Federal Reserve didn't respond to requests for comment on Warren's tweet. Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen said in July that the Fed does have the power to oust directors "if it proves appropriate."

Jaret Seiberg, an analyst at Cowen Washington Research Group, predicted the latest news means the political and legal "spotlight will continue to shine brightly on Wells Fargo."

"Every new disclosure seems to expand the scope of the bank's troubles, which creates the perception that the scandal is getting bigger rather than going away," Seiberg wrote in a report on Thursday.

Wells Fargo is struggling to put the fake account scandal that began last fall behind it. New allegations of harming customers have rocked the bank in recent months.

In late July, Wells Fargo admitted to forcing up to 570,000 borrowers into unneeded auto insurance. About 20,000 of those customers may have had their cars repossessed due to these unnecessary insurance costs.

Wells Fargo has also been accused in a recent lawsuit of ripping off vulnerable mom-and-pop businesses on credit card fees -- an allegation that the bank has denied.

Wells Fargo urged customers who believe accounts were opened in their name to call a dedicated hotline: 1-877-924-8697.

CNNMoney (New York) First published August 31, 2017: 9:03 AM ET

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Wells Fargo uncovers up to 1.4 million more fake accounts

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The findings show that Wells Fargo's problems are worse than the bank previously admitted to when the scandal began almost a year ago. Wells Fargo now says it has found a total of up to 3.5 million potentially fake bank and credit card accounts, up from its earlier tally of approximately 2.1 million.

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The celebrities answered phone calls form "GMA" viewers in telethon to support Disney's Day of Giving, raising more than $2 million so far today.

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After Hurricane Harvey tore through southeastern Texas earlier this week -- killing at least 19 people, displacing thousands and destroying tens of thousands of homes -- much of the region is still reeling and left in dire need of assistance as people begin to rebuild their lives and communities in wake of the harrowing storm.

As the full scope of the devastation continues to come into focus, stories of remarkable heroism, courage and community have begun to emerge, giving hope to those affected by the catastrophic flooding.

On Thursday, Disney, the parent company of ABC News, is hosting a Day of Giving across ABC, Freeform, Radio Disney, and all digital and social platforms, calling on everyone who wants to help support in the massive relief efforts needed to donate to the American Red Cross's Harvey recovery fund. One hundred percent of the proceeds raised during the Day of Giving will go to the American Red Cross for recovery efforts in areas devastated by Harvey.

" Good Morning America" will host a telethon starting early Thursday morning to encourage donations, featuring celebrity guests. The country music group Rascal Flatts will also perform their inspirational song "I Won't Let Go," in tribute to Harvey victims.

The Walt Disney Company and ABC station KTRK in Houston jointly pledged a $1 million cash commitment to the American Red Cross in support of humanitarian efforts for communities affected by Hurricane Harvey.

"We know thousands of people have lost everything and now face the daunting challenge of putting their lives and communities back together, and we're using our unique resources and reach to help those in need," Robert A. Iger, the chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company, said in a statement announcing the Day of Giving.

Take part in Disney's Day of Giving: To support people impacted by Hurricane Harvey, call 1-855-999-GIVE, donate at www.RedCross.org/ABC or text "HARVEY" to 90999 to make a $10 donation.

The latest ABC News Hurricane Harvey coverage:

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ABC, 'GMA' take part in Day of Giving to benefit Hurricane Harvey relief efforts

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After Hurricane Harvey tore through southeastern Texas earlier this week -- killing at least 19 people, displacing thousands and destroying tens of thousands of homes -- much of the region is still reeling and left in dire need of assistance as people begin to rebuild their lives and communities in wake of the harrowing storm.

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A highway speed chase in New York, started on the freeway and ended up on the fairway.

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A high speed chase in New York started on the freeway and ended up on the fairway.

State police report that on Tuesday afternoon a trooper clocked a 2010 Toyota Corolla doing 93 mph on Interstate 81 near the town of Kirkwood and tried to pull it over.

The 79-year-old driver, identified as Freddie P. Maliwacki Sr., ignored the lights and sirens of the patrol car and led it on a pursuit that continued onto local roads. Then off them.

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A Broome County Sheriff's deputy in the next town alerted to the situation via radio laid a spike strip in the road in in front of the Corolla and flattened its tires.

The car didn't stop, though. It pulled onto the Golden Oak Golf Course and drove around tearing up the grass until it finally got stuck in the rough.

Police arrested Maliwacki and charged him with reckless endangerment and criminal mischief. He is currently being held in Broome County jail without bail.

According to a post on the golf course's Facebook page, no one was hurt in the incident, but six greens were damaged. Repairs were completed in time to open the following afternoon.

"We are resilient! We can be knocked down, but we get up stronger every time!," the post proclaimed.

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Police pursue speedy 79-year-old onto golf course

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A high speed chase in New York started on the freeway and ended up on the fairway. State police report that on Tuesday afternoon a trooper clocked a 2010 Toyota Corolla doing 93 mph on Interstate 81 near the town of Kirkwood and tried to pull it over.

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2 explosions, black smoke reported at chemical plant outside Houston

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A flooded chemical plant in a small town outside of Houston was poised to explode, a spokeswoman for the French company said late Wednesday, though the timing and the extent of the danger weren't immediately clear.

The Arkema Inc. plant in Crosby-which is about 25 miles northeast of Houston-- lost power on Sunday and its backup generators amid Harvey's days-long deluge, leaving it without refrigeration for chemicals that become volatile as the temperature rises.

"The fire will happen. It will resemble a gasoline fire. It will be explosive and intense in nature," spokeswoman Janet Smith told The Associated Press.

There was "no way to prevent" the explosion, chief executive Rich Rowe said earlier Wednesday.

In its most recently available submission from 2014, Arkema said potentially 1.1 million residents could be impacted over a distance of 23 miles in a worse case, according to information compiled by a nonprofit group and posted on a website hosted by the Houston Chronicle.

But, Arkema added, it was using "multiple layers of preventative and mitigation measures" at the plant, including steps to reduce the amount of substances released, and that made the worst case "very unlikely."

Rowe told Reuters that the company has no way to prevent the explosion because the plant is swamped by six feet of water. The company did not move the chemicals, but told Reuters that it made extensive preparations.

Arkema manufactures organic peroxides, a family of compounds used for making everything from pharmaceuticals to construction materials.

"As the temperature rises, the natural state of these materials will decompose. A white smoke will result, and that will catch fire," Smith said. "So the fire is imminent. The question is when."

The company shut down the Crosby site before Harvey made landfall last week, but a crew of 11 had stayed behind. That group was removed and residents within 1.5 miles were told to evacuate Tuesday after the plant lost power.

Harris County Fire Marshal spokeswoman Rachel Moreno said the 1.5-mile radius was developed in consultation with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and other subject-matter experts. "It's a concerning situation, yes," Moreno said. "But the facility is surrounded by water right now so we don't anticipate the fire going anywhere."

The plant falls along a stretch near Houston that features one of the largest concentrations of refineries, pipelines and chemical plants in the country.

Arkema's plant is required to develop and submit a risk management plan to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, because it has large amounts of sulfur dioxide, a toxic chemical, and methylpropene, a flammable gas. The plans are supposed to detail the effects of a potential release, evaluate worst-case scenarios and explain a company's response.

Daryl Roberts, the company's vice president of manufacturing, technology and regulatory services in the Americas, did not dispute that worst-case scenario but said that assumed all the controls in place failed and strong winds blew directly toward Houston, the nation's fourth-largest city.

"We have not modeled this exact scenario but we are very comfortable with this 1.5-mile radius," Roberts told the AP. He added that it mostly resembled less serious scenarios that would affect a half-mile radius and a few dozen people.

Roberts said the vessels containing the organic peroxide are equipped with controls to slow the release of chemicals. Because of the water, he said, the chemicals will quickly vaporize, reducing the size and scope of the fire.
The Associated Press contributed to this report

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'THE QUESTION IS WHEN' Chemical plant outside Houston could explode, company says

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A flooded chemical plant in a small town outside of Houston was poised to explode, a spokeswoman for the French company said late Wednesday, though the timing and the extent of the danger weren't immediately clear. The Arkema Inc.

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7 year old girl abducted and thrown off a bridge then swam to safety.

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7-year-old girl kidnapped, thrown from bridge - CNN Video

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A 7-year-old Massachusetts girl swam to safety after being abducted and thrown from an interstate bridge into a lake near Worcester.

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There were multiple explosions of chemical plantations in Houston Texas early this morning caused by Hurricane Harvey.

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The situation at an Arkema chemical plant in Crosby, Texas, outside of Houston, has become "serious," the company said in a statement, and there is a risk that the plant could catch fire or explode.

"At this time, while we do not believe there is any imminent danger, the potential for a chemical reaction leading to a fire and/or explosion within the site confines is real," the company said Tuesday evening.

The site has experienced heavy flooding from Hurricane Harvey, "receiving approximately 40 inches by Monday afternoon," the company said.

Residents within a 1.5-mile radius of the facility have been asked to evacuate, according to the Harris County Fire Marshal's Office.

This story is developing. Please check back for updates.

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Risk of chemical plant explosion near Houston prompts evacuation after Harvey

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The situation at an Arkema chemical plant in Crosby, Texas, outside of Houston, has become "serious," the company said in a statement, and there is a risk that the plant could catch fire or explode.

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officer that was not in uniform pulls gun on biker, and holds it up for 35 seconds until revealing he's a cop.

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officer on leave after pulling gun on biker - cnn video

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Officer on leave after pulling gun on biker - CNN Video

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King County sheriff's detective Richard Rowe did not identify himself as law enforcement until 35 seconds after approaching motorist Alex Randall.

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A woman steals shoes and she leaves her child behind in the process

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Police: Woman steals shoes and flees, leaving son behind

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Alabama police have arrested a woman who they say left her 5-year-old son behind after stealing a pair of shoes.

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28 people were injured when a passenger train hit a cargo train in Poland.

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A spokesman for Poland's national railways says 28 people were injured when a passenger train hit a cargo train Wednesday evening. There were no fatalities.

Seven of the passenger train's 11 carriages and the engine derailed in the collision, which occurred before 10 p.m. in the northern Polish town of Smetowo Graniczne.

Miroslaw Siemieniec, a spokesman for the railway said Thursday that 28 people were hurt but there were no life-threatening injuries. The previous evening officials had spoken of 21 injured.

Prosecutors and railway experts are investigating the cause of the crash.

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Number of people hurt in train crash in Poland rises to 28

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A spokesman for Poland's national railways says 28 people were injured when a passenger train hit a cargo train Wednesday evening. There were no fatalities. Seven of the passenger train's 11 carriages and the engine derailed in the collision, which occurred before 10 p.m. in the northern...

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Clean water has ran out due to an explosion and the death toll is no up to 37.

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Harvey aftermath: Houston ‘open for business’; other cities suffering | CNN

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Houston Mayor Sylvester struck optimistic tone late Thursday declaring the “city was open for business,” pointing to signs of recovery.

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A Missouri killer threatened to shoot up a school "columbine-style" after killing 5 people, he also said he "only wanted to kill white people". His mother says that "he had no issue with white people, he would do odd jobs, and most were for white men".

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A Missouri man believed to have killed five people in the last year had threatened to attack a school "Columbine-style" and "kill all white people," according to court records.

Fredrick Scott has been charged with two murders, including the slaying of 57-year-old Steven Gibbons as he walked on a Kansas City street earlier this month. Investigators believe Scott is responsible for a total of five fatal shootings going back to August of 2016.

Scott, 22, had made a threat against Center Alternative School in January of 2014, according to the court documents obtained by the Kansas City Star. He was cited for harassment after saying he wanted to "shoot the school up, Columbine-style."

Two students killed 12 students and a teacher at Columbine High School in Colorado on April 20, 1999.

Man suspected of killing 5 captured after deviating from pattern

Scott also said he wished to "kill all white people," according to the documents obtained by the newspaper.

All five victims connected to Scott were white men between the ages of 54 and 67.

"As far as I know Fredrick never had a problem with white people," his mother told the Kansas City Star. "He would do odd jobs for people and some of those people were white men."

His mother told the newspaper that he would later graduate from the school where he made the threat.

She said he declined to get treatment for paranoid schizophrenia. One year before making the school threat, he was cited for assaulting her, according to the Star.

(Police Handout)

After he was taken into custody this month, Scott told authorities that he was angry about the slaying of his half-brother in December of 2015, the Star reported. The gunman who is serving 45 years in prison is black.

"He felt like his brother was the only person who loved him," a Burger King co-worker told the Star. "It really damaged him."

Authorities believe that Scott's killing spree started in August of 2016, when 54-year-old John Palmer was fatally shot. Palmer, Mike Darby, David Lenox and Timothy Rice were all shot on secluded trails, while Gibbons was attacked in broad daylight on a Kansas City street.

"For somebody to just walk up and shoot you, just the devil," Gibbons' mother told Fox 4.

Delores Gibbons told the Star that her son was within a block of his home when he was shot on Aug. 13.

"He took the same route every time," mother Delores Gibbons told the Star. "He would leave the house everyday, go down to Aldi's (at Meyer and Troost), get what he needed to get, and then catch the bus back up the hill (to 67th Street) and walk down. He did that everyday."

"I think I'm still in shock to this day," sister Donna Gibbons told the newspaper. "I still can't believe it. I mean, he almost made it back here. He was three houses from home."

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Missouri killer threatened to attack school 'Columbine-style'

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A Missouri man believed to have killed five people in the last year had threatened to attack a school "Columbine-style" and "kill all white people," according to court records. Fredrick Scott has been charged with two murders, including the slaying of 57-year-old Steven Gibbons as he walked on a Kansas City street earlier this month.

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Danny Duffy was charged with DUI. he pulled up in a burger king drive thru and was passed out and burger king called 911 thinking he was dead.

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Gospel singers lift spirits at shelter for Harvey evacuees

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gospel singers lift spirits at shelter for harvey evacuees  - cnn

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Gospel singers lift spirits at shelter for Harvey evacuees

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In a now-viral video, Victoria White and Marquist Taylor gave a passionate, gospel performance at a Texas shelter for Harvey evacuees.

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Researchers discovered 381 new species in the Amazon forest; including 216 previously unknown plants, 93 new fish, 32 amphibians, 20 mammals, 19 reptiles, and one bird.

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7 year old girl swam to safety after being abducted and thrown off of an interstate bridge

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7-year-old girl kidnapped, thrown from bridge - CNN Video

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A 7-year-old Massachusetts girl swam to safety after being abducted and thrown from an interstate bridge into a lake near Worcester.

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us stealth fighter jets stage mock booming drill over Korean peninsula two days after North Korean flew a missile over japan the us and south Korea staged there own show of force with state of the art stealth fighters

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Four US F-35B fighter jets joined two US B-1B bombers and four South Korean F-15 fighter jets in the joint US-South Korean flyover of the Korean Peninsula, an official with the South Korean air force told CNN.

The exercise was designed to "strongly counter North Korea's repeated ballistic missile tests and development of nuclear weapons," the official said.

In a statement, the air force said the US bombers flew out of Guam and four stealth fighter jets from a US Marine Corps base in Japan.

They conducted a mock bombing drill, which simulated a surgical strike of key enemy facilities, over the Pilsung Range in the eastern province of Gangwon.

In a statement, US Pacific Command said the flyover was a "direct response to North Korea's intermediate range ballistic missile launch."

"North Korea's actions are a threat to our allies, partners and homeland, and their destabilizing actions will be met accordingly," said Gen. Terrence O'Shaughnessy, commander of Pacific Air Forces.

North Korea labeled the flyover "a rash act," according to KCNA, the country's state news agency.

It said that the "wild military acts of the enemies" were as a result of the county's recent ballistic missile launch.

Show of force

Thursday's flyover follows North Korea's latest weapons test, the first ballistic missile fired over Japan, though various stages of rockets carrying satellites have landed to Japan's east and south.

North Korea has been test-firing missiles at a rapid clip this year. With each launch, experts say Pyongyang can further refine and perfect its missile technology.

The bomber flights are a common response to North Korean actions that the United States and its allies perceive as hostile.

B-1s flew over the Korean Peninsula following both of Pyongyang's successful tests of intercontinental ballistic missiles, the type of weapons designed to deliver nuclear warheads to far-off locations such as the US mainland.

The bombers flew from Andersen Air Force Base on Guam, the closest US territory to North Korea and the target of North Korean threats in recent weeks.

The state-run Korean Central News Agency said that Tuesday's missile launch was "a meaningful prelude to containing Guam," which it called the "advanced base of invasion" for US forces.

In a follow-up statement Thursday, the agency promised future launches "targeting the Pacific, where the US imperialist aggressor forces' bases are stationed."

"It should not be forgotten even a moment that the whole of South Korea can turn into ruins," the statement said.

South Korea and the United States are currently engaged in joint military exercises, which kicked off last week. The annual exercises always infuriate Pyongyang, and some have called for them to be called off or scaled back as a show of good faith that might bring North Korean leader Kim Jong Un back to the negotiating table.

At a news conference Thursday, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Hua Chunying seemed to be referring to the largely simulated drills when she said the situation in the Korean Peninsula "is not like a movie script or computer game."

"It is real. It exists," she said. "It is an important and serious issue that directly affects people's safety in the South and North. And it also affects the peace of the whole region. We hope every side makes rational judgments and wise decisions in a responsible manner for the people and regional peace and stability. "

Advanced fighter jet

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the most expensive and one of the most controversial weapons systems in US history, is held out as "the cornerstone" of US defense in the Pacific.

Based at a US base in Iwakuni, the first of 16 fighters arrived in Japan in January, showing Washington's "commitment to the defense of Japan with the most capable and modern equipment in the US inventory," a US Marines official told CNN at the time.

According to the Marines, the deployment of the fighters to Japan was ordered under the Obama administration, and was not related to ongoing tensions with North Korea.

Nevertheless, analysts said the fighters' presence in Japan sends a strong message, and the country's Ministry of Defense claimed they increased Japan's deterrent capability amid an "increasingly severe" security environment.

Following North Korea's recent missile launch, President Donald Trump called Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and said the "US stands with Japan 100%."

"I would like to make the utmost effort to protect the lives and assets of the Japanese people under a strong alliance between Japan and US," Abe recounted Trump saying after the call.

The F-35 stealth fighters would be a key part of any US pre-emptive strike on North Korea designed to neutralize the country's defensive and counterstrike capabilities, Jerry Hendrix, a retired Navy captain and senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, told CNN earlier this month.

Countering North Korea's relatively formidable surface-to-air missile defense capabilities, stealth American F-22s, F-35s and B-2 bombers would likely lead a joint air campaign with the help of Japanese and South Korean F-15 or F-16 fighters, he said.

Corey Wallace, a security analyst at Freie University in Berlin, told CNN the use of the F-35s out of Japan showed the United States had various options for potentially striking North Korea.

"(Washington has) platforms from Guam and Japan linking up and operating together over South Korea with South Korean assets, with all of the governments supporting this," he said.

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us stealth fighters show of force over korean peninsula - cnnpolitics

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Taehoon Lee, James Griffiths and Joshua Berlinger, CNN

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US fighter jets stage mock bombing drill over Korean Peninsula

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Four US F-35B fighter jets joined two US B-1B bombers and four South Korean F-15 fighter jets in the joint US-South Korean flyover of the Korean Peninsula, an official with the South Korean air force told CNN. The exercise was designed to "strongly counter North Korea's repeated ballistic missile tests and development of nuclear weapons," the official said.

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A small sample of Texas floodwater contains concerning levels of E. coli bacteria.  Rescuers and residents exposed to the floodwaters should be cautious, especially if they had open wounds.

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As many parts of southeastern Texas have been inundated with brown murky floodwater left behind by Hurricane Harvey -- now a tropical depression -- experts are warning residents and rescuers about the possible health risks lurking within the deluge of water.

Dr. Terry Gentry, an associate professor at Texas A&M University, examined small samples of both drinking water and floodwater from Cypress, Texas--a community just outside of Houston--at the university's microbiology lab. While the results of the lab tests revealed that the drinking water was safe, Gentry found that the levels of E. coli and coliform bacteria in the floodwater samples raised cause for concern.

"We saw elevated levels of E. coli," Gentry told ABC News. "This indicates the very likely presence of pathogenic bacteria viruses and other organisms that could cause disease in some individuals."

The E. coli figures Gentry found in the floodwater samples were more than 125 times the amount that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recommends being exposed to while swimming, and more than 15 times higher than their standard set for wading within water.

The Harris County Department of Health told ABC News in a statement that "the results in the report would be exactly as we would expect," adding that with the flooding, "the waters in the streets can easily be overrun and contaminated with sewage, trash, and displaced animals, making it dangerous and unsafe."

Dr. Susan Whittier, an associate professor at Columbia University in New York City, told ABC News that rescuers and residents exposed to the floodwaters should be cautious, especially if they had open wounds.

Whittier also advised people to try and stay "clean as much as possible."

Although Whittier recommends disposing of clothing that was exposed to floodwater, the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention says on its website that if you wish to keep clothing contaminated with floodwater it should be washed--separately from uncontaminated clothing--with hot water and detergent.

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Small sample of Texas floodwater contains high levels of E. coli bacteria: Expert

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As many parts of southeastern Texas have been inundated with brown murky floodwater left behind by Hurricane Harvey -- now a tropical depression -- experts are warning residents and rescuers about the possible health risks lurking within the deluge of water. Dr. Terry Gentry, an associate professor...

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Police officer in Georgia told a woman at a DUI stop that they, "only kill black people..."

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A lieutenant from a police department in Georgia is under investigation after a dash-cam video obtained by Channel 2 Action News appears to show the officer telling a driver during a DUI stop, "Remember, we only kill black people."

Lt. Greg Abbott of the Cobb County Police Department reportedly asked the driver to grab her cell phone, but she replied she's afraid to move her hands because she has "just seen way too many videos of cops..."

Abbot responds, "But, you're not black. Remember, we only shoot black people. We only kill black people, right? All the videos you've seen, have you seen the black people get killed?"

The incident occurred in July 2016, and it was brought to light on Wednesday after Channel 2 Action News' open-records request on Friday.

Police Chief Mike Register said Abbot has been placed on administrative duties until the investigation is complete.

Lance LoRusso, Abbott's attorney, told the station in a statement that the 28-year veteran is cooperating with the investigation, and that "his comments must be observed in their totality to understand their context."

"He was attempting to de-escalate a situation involving an uncooperative passenger. In context, his comments were clearly aimed at attempting to gain compliance by using the passenger's own statements and reasoning to avoid making an arrest," said LoRusso.

Suri Chadha Jimenez, a representative of the driver, said she believes the officer's response was sarcastic because the woman, "gave him some lip," but nonetheless said, "it makes you cringe when you hear it. It's unacceptable."

Register, who was not police chief during the time of the occurence, told Channel 2 that Abbott was a good officer and never had any racial complaints. He added "no matter what context it was said, it shouldn't have been said," and that it is being dealt with "head-on."

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Georgia police officer at DUI stop: 'We only kill black people'

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A lieutenant from a police department in Georgia is under investigation after a dash-cam video obtained by Channel 2 Action News appears to show the officer telling a driver during a DUI stop, "Remember, we only kill black people." Lt.

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White lawmaker warns black attorney she may ‘go missing’ if Confederate statues are threatened

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The Washington Post 11 hrs ago Cleve R. Wootson Jr.

LaDawn Jones is a black Democrat from Atlanta. For four years, her seatmate in the Georgia House of Representatives was Jason Spencer, a white Republican from the southern tip of the state. They see the world differently and, she concedes, there were many conversations where "we've had to walk away from each other because the debate was so intense."

Those debates didn't end when Jones left the legislature to resume practicing law last year - they were still frenemies on social media. And this week, the pair got into an online scuffle in which some say Spencer made a violent, racist threat.

It involved two of the most emotionally volatile issues in the American South: Confederate monuments and lynching.
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The discussion started when Spencer posted a picture of himself next to a memorial of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. Jones, who has advocated for removing Confederate memorials from the state's most vaunted places, posted a comment warning her former colleague that he should "get it in ... before it is torn down."

It soured from there.

The lowest point was when Spencer told her that if she and others kept up their fight to rid the state of Confederate monuments, "I cant guarantee you won't be met with torches but something a lot more definitive."

Later, removing any doubt, he said the people who want the statues gone "will go missing in the Okefenokee," referring to a swamp and national wildlife refuge near his home town. "To many necks they are red around here. Don't say I didn't warn you."

The entire thread (it has some profanity, harsh language and an epic "Game of Thrones" reference) was posted online by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

At one point, Jones told Spencer to "put your hoods and your tiki torches away. We are no longer afraid. We will not let you hide behind your heritage ... Lock those photos in your memory because we are about tear that s- down! #byefelicia #byeStonewall #byeLee"

Spencer replied "Hate for others and American history (good and bad) drives your quixotic journey to erase history like the Bolsheviks. Looks like you are afflicted with the same poison you claim to fight against."

Spencer's office did not immediately respond to an email message from The Washington Post seeking comment.

He told the Journal-Constitution that his words weren't a threat, but a "warning to of how people can behave about this issue."

"She is from Atlanta - and the rest of Georgia sees this issue very differently," Spencer told the newspaper. "Just trying to keep her safe if she decided to come down and raise hell about the memorial in the back yards of folks who will see this as an unwelcome aggression from the left."

According to the Journal-Constitution, Spencer asked that the newspaper include a picture in the story of him standing next to a monument of Martin Luther King Jr. that was unveiled on the Georgia capitol grounds.

Jones said that while she thinks her former colleague's comments "absolutely and completely crossed the line, I personally did not feel threatened."

There may be people in the state willing to get violent over Confederate monuments, she said, but she doesn't think her former seatmate is one of them, even if they are diametrically opposed when it comes to the statues and memorials.

Anti-Confederate sentiment intensified after nine black churchgoers were killed on June 17, 2015, at a church in Charleston, S.C., in a racially motivated massacre.

The killer, Dylann Roof, was seen on one website holding a gun in one hand and a Confederate flag in the other. The tragedy mobilized once-hesitant Southern cities to get rid of polarizing Civil War statuary.

The debate intensified after violent, deadly protests in Charlottesville, which began with a protest of authorities' decision to remove a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee from a public park.

The debate is playing out across the American south, including in Georgia, a state that has a bas-relief image of Confederate luminaries carved into the side of a mountain.

The Peach State, and Spencer, have been at the center of other controversial debates.

As The Post's Lindsey Bever reported, Spencer was the author of an ultimately unsuccessful bill that would have prevented Muslim women from wearing religious garb in public places in Georgia.

GOP Jason Spencer warned colleague Jones talk of ditching Confederate statues could cause Democrat to 'go missing' https://t.co/1Jn6umItwD. pic.twitter.com/sTjFrYCpzV

- bmaggiemay (@bmaggiemay) August 30, 2017

Edward Ahmed Mitchell, executive director for CAIR-Georgia, told Bever his group "suspects motivated by a desire to discriminate against Georgia Muslims," and added that the bill was "a bad solution to a nonexistent problem."

Citing the reaction to the legislation, Spencer ultimately decided to withdraw the bill, saying it "would withstand legal scrutiny, but not political scrutiny."

Nine months later, Spencer was again being scrutinized for words that offended minorities.

Jones said her former colleague called her to let her know he wasn't making a personal threat against her, but he stopped short of apologizing.

Jones said she's disappointed he didn't renounce his comments. She worries they encouraged racial violence, instead of promoting a rational, civil debate about where Confederate memorials fit in 21st century America.

"I think his comfort with the fact that people in the south of Georgia would believe the right action still does make me uncomfortable," she said. "Who would want to murder someone over some statues?"
Read more: Fla. mayoral candidate had a message for activists who want reparations: 'Go back to Africa' 'Go back to Africa'? This man will - if racists pay his way. Take a ship 'back to Africa': Florida judge reassigned after alleged comments about black people 'Learn your manners,' a white man wrote to his black neighbor. This was the response. 'I was just reading a book': Canadian cops called on black man reading C.S. Lewis in his car

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White lawmaker warns black attorney she may 'go missing' if Confederate statues are threatened

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The Washington Post 11 hrs ago Cleve R. Wootson Jr. LaDawn Jones is a black Democrat from Atlanta. For four years, her seatmate in the Georgia House of Representatives was Jason Spencer, a white Republican from the southern tip of the state.

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NASA is tracking the hurricane with satellite.

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NASA is using a host of technology to track Tropical Storm Harvey, which made landfall again Wednesday.

The government agency is harnessing satellites and other platforms, including aircraft and even the International Space Station to provide continuous updates and new data on the storm.

NASA has used items such as the MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) on the agency's Aqua satellite to capture clouds over Dallas. Data from NOAA's GOES-East satellite has been harnessed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland to capture the storm's center of circulation with thunderstorms that are located in the center of Harvey, according to Phys.org. These thunderstorms have stretched as far east as Louisiana.
TROPICAL STORM HARVEY: IS TWITTER BECOMING THE NEW 911?
"NASA focuses on developing new research capabilities that can be used by our partners in the operational and response communities," said Dalia Kirschbaum, Research Physical Scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in a statement. "While we continue to innovate in the type of information from satellites, models, and airborne platforms, the main focus is to ensure that the partners that are responding operationally to this event have the information in the format that they need to make effective decisions on emergency response."

Kirschbaum added that NASA is continuing to make sure "that the data pipeline is as effective and useful as possible."

NASA has also used its Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument aboard the Aqua satellite to detail the flood threat from Harvey.

According to the data provided by AIRS, NASA was able to see the coldest cloud top temperatures and thunderstorms over the southern Texas coast, while also spotting an "area of intense precipitation" over southeast Louisiana.

As of Tuesday night, the storm had dumped nearly 52 inches of rain on the state of Texas, setting the preliminary record for a tropical storm, according to data from the National Weather Service.

The storm has done significant amounts of damage, with more expected to come. According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, approximately 30,000 have applied for mass care and medical care and 195,000 have applied for federal assistance.

The U.S. Coast Guard is also using heat maps to find trapped people, as well as taking surplus 911 calls, at the rate of 1,000 calls per hour.

Fox News' Catherine Herridge contributed to this story.

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How NASA is tracking Tropical Storm Harvey

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NASA is using a host of technology to track Tropical Storm Harvey, which made landfall again Wednesday. The government agency is harnessing satellites and other platforms, including aircraft and even the International Space Station to provide continuous updates and new data on the storm.

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The entire city of Beaumont a population of 118,000 has no running water after both of the water pumps failed and they won't be fixed until the flood water has receded

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Harvey aftermath: Houston ‘open for business’; other cities suffering | CNN

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Houston Mayor Sylvester struck optimistic tone late Thursday declaring the “city was open for business,” pointing to signs of recovery.

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The largest shopping mall in America sues star bucks for closing there teavana store.Starbucks has 375 stores most are in malls.

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WhenStarbucks announced last month thatit would be shutting down all of its Teavana stores, a lot of people were unhappy. Tea lovers were sad, of course, but another group that did not appreciate the news was Simon Property Group, the largest shopping mall operator in America. Now Simon has filed a lawsuit against Starbucks for breaking its lease contracts by closing itsTeavana stores and "shirking its contractual obligations."

Starbucks' 379 Teavana stores were primarily located in shopping malls. 78 of those Teavana stores are in malls operated by Simon. In July, Starbucks announced that all the Teavana stores would be closing by the end of 2018, but a representative from Simon told the Indianapolis Business Journal that Starbucks actually plans to close its Teavana stores by December 31, 2017.

Simon says two of the leases for the 78 Teavana stores in its various malls expire in 2017. The other 76 are in place for longer than that. Some of the leases reportedly extend until 2027.

"In order to successfully operate its shopping centers, Simon depends upon each tenant fulfilling the covenants in their respective leases," the company said in its suit. "Crucially, each of Simon's tenants promises that it will open and operate continuously for the entire term of its lease."

Simon's lawsuit points out that other companies have been closing their mall stores recently, but those companies said closures were necessary to prevent bankruptcy. Simon says Starbucks is obviously in no danger of bankruptcy.

The suit alleges that Teavana is not actually losing money, but "Starbucks simply believes it can make more money if it violates the leases than if it honored its contractual promises and obligations."

Simon says a mall is a "co-dependent ecosystem" that relies on a mix of stores to create traffic and benefit all mall tenants. That requires all lessees to maintain and operate in their locations for the the duration of their leases.

Simon is seeking a permanent injunction to stop Starbucks from closing its Teavana stores before the end of their lease agreements.

Starbucks told the Indianapolis Star that it is "working to resolve this dispute."

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America's Largest Shopping Mall Chain Sues Starbucks Over Teavana Closures

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WhenStarbucks announced last month thatit would be shutting down all of its Teavana stores , a lot of people were unhappy. Tea lovers were sad, of course, but another group that did not appreciate the news was Simon Property Group, the largest shopping mall operator in America.

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Florida mom is accused of overdosing while driving her toddler to preschool

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A Florida mom is accused of overdosing on prescription drugs while she was on her way to drop her child off at preschool.

Boca Raton police said they arrested Colleen Nichols, 30, after finding her unconscious in the front seat of her van at about 8:30 a.m. Monday, the Palm Beach Post reported. Her preschooler was found crying in the backseat.

"I just want to go to school," the child reportedly said to cops when they responded and revived Nichols. It was the child's fifth birthday.

Someone saw Nichols and her child in the van with the windows rolled up and ignition turned off and called 911, according to police records.
US TEEN DRUG OVERDOSE DEATHS INCREASE AFTER YEARS OF DECLINE
When Boca Raton rescue crews arrived, they used Narcan -- a drug that blocks the effects of opioids and reverses an opiate overdose -- to revive Nichols.

Nichols allegedly told police she was disoriented and couldn't remember getting in her van or the ambulance, but she denied using heroin. She didn't know where her child was either.

Nichols told authorities at the time, "I must have blacked out, I'm under a lot of stress."

Cops said they found a bottle of Klonopin, used to treat seizures, panic disorders and anxiety, in the van. The prescription for 30 pills had been filled the day before -- but there were only two left when cops discovered it, officials said.

Nichols was arrested on a child neglect charge, and was released from Palm Beach County Jail on Tuesday on $1,000 bond. She was previously arrested for child neglect in 2015 after leaving the same child, then 3 years old, home alone after being taken into custody on suspicion of driving under the influence.

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Florida mom accused of overdosing while driving toddler to preschool

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A Florida mom is accused of overdosing on prescription drugs while she was on her way to drop her child off at preschool. Boca Raton police said they arrested Colleen Nichols, 30, after finding her unconscious in the front seat of her van at about 8:30 a.m. Monday, the Palm Beach Post reported.