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Restaurant in Maine cooks lobsters with a secret ingredient... Drugs?

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SOUTHWEST HARBOR, Maine - State health inspectors are investigating a Maine lobster restaurant that tried to mellow out lobsters with marijuana. Charlotte's Legendary Lobster Pound in Southwest Harbor remains open but has stopped allowing customers to request meat from lobsters sedated with marijuana, the Portland Press Herald reports.

Charlotte Gill, the restaurant's owner, is a state-licensed medical marijuana caregiver. On Friday, Gill said she recently started offering "smoked" lobster meat and hopes to resume sales by mid-October.

Emily Spencer, a spokesperson for Maine's Department of Health and Human Services, wouldn't say whether the state had asked Gill to halt such sales.

It's unknown whether pot smoke actually calms lobsters or has any effect on their meat. Gill said she pumped marijuana smoke into the water in some of the lobsters' enclosures.

Finding ways to reduce lobsters' pain is not a new concept. Earlier this year, Switzerland banned the common cooking method of tossing a live lobster into a pot of boiling water, deeming it cruel since lobsters can sense pain, USA Today reported.

Gill has argued that the kinder killing method will make the animal happier - and happier lobsters mean better tasting meat. "The difference it makes within the meat itself is unbelievable," she the Mount Desert Islander. "Everything you put into your body is energy."

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Maine investigating restaurant that sedated lobsters with marijuana

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SOUTHWEST HARBOR, Maine - State health inspectors are investigating a Maine lobster restaurant that tried to mellow out lobsters with marijuana. Charlotte's Legendary Lobster Pound in Southwest Harbor remains open but has stopped allowing customers to request meat from lobsters sedated with marijuana, the Portland Press Herald reports.

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A problem with the policy on how to tackle and treat NFL quarterbacks. Clay Mathews had his 3rd penalty on roughing the passer on Sunday. Clay Mathews has got one each game so far. Roger Goodell said on a report that players should try not to hit the quarterback.

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Alex Brandon/Associated Press
The NFL has made its policy on how to treat quarterbacks clear after another ridiculous, absurd and patently stupid penalty on the Packers' Clay Matthews:

Do not touch them.

Do not hit them too hard, either. Don't put your weight on them.

Be delicate. No tussling of hair. Wedgies will lead to ejections. No harsh language, finger-pointing or sarcasm aimed at them. Tickling will be a 15-yard penalty. Talking about a quarterback's momma will lead to a fine.

If the penalties hadn't made the policy clear enough, the NFL even released a statement Sunday to make it clearer: "We strongly encourage all defensive players to not hit the quarterback ever," the letter from Commissioner Roger Goodell's office read. "Instead, buy them a drink."

Treat QBs like silk pillows. Cuddle them. Hug them. Speak to them softly.

Is some of this hyperbole? Sarcasm? Of course.

But it's not so far off.

What has happened with Matthews this season-and also happened Sunday with Cowboys defensive lineman Tyrone Crawford on a hit of Seahawks QB Russell Wilson -is bound to cause massive reverberations on and off the field.

It will continue to anger and confuse defensive players and coaches who are asking themselves, What exactly is football supposed to be today? What is an acceptable hit? How much violence is allowed?

Off the field, it's the kind of thing that can impact fandom. What truly causes fans to stop watching football isn't players' kneeling or hatred of Goodell; it's watching a game that no longer looks familiar.

The safety of players is always paramount-and this is a league that in the past, and likely now, has never really cared about the health of its players (a league that was, at best, deceptive about what it knew regarding CTE and that also asks its players to play Thursday night games). So, yes, any instance of it protecting players is a good thing.

But there's protection, and then there is overcorrection.

The league is massively overcorrecting to the point where it forces you to throw up your hands. Or throw something at your television.

What Matthews did Sunday was tackle Alex Smith in a way that anyone who has ever played or watched football will see as familiar and correct.

Matthews was also flagged last week for a similar tackle:

Kevin Boilard @247KevinBoilard
#Packers LB Clay Matthews appeared to catch himself with his left arm while taking down #Vikings QB Kirk Cousins on this play, but was still called for roughing the passer https://t.co/5u4nYcQg7G

Josh Tolentino @JCTSports
Phenomenal timely capture by Mike Roemer/Associated Press. Roughing the passer on Clay Matthews? You decide. #Packers #Vikings https://t.co/xJ66pZ2reG

For that to be called roughing the quarterback was also stupid.

But the calls just keep getting worse.

Why was this one worse? You can see that Matthews learned from what happened on his previous penalty, and as he took down Smith on Sunday, he released his hands and shifted his weight so it wasn't fully on the quarterback.

NFL Football Operations @NFLFootballOps
This is a foul for roughing the passer - the defender lands "with all or most of the defender's weight" on the passer. Rule 12, Section 2, Article 9(b): https://t.co/s9YKN8NLuT #GBvsWAS https://t.co/ei2QZkvvzx

The NFL, never missing a chance to be snooty, doubled down on its call on Twitter.

The problem is Matthews didn't do what the league said he did.

The penalty called on Crawford's tackle of Wilson was similarly awful.

Joey Hayden @_joeyhayden
"Roughing the passer" on Tyrone Crawford #DALvsSEA #CowboysNation https://t.co/Rm2LWeSSEn

It was so bad that Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman went off during the Fox broadcast.

"Tyrone Crawford comes in, makes a textbook play, and these are game-changing penalties," Aikman said. "I'm tired of talking about it."

Aikman added, "The league just can't seem to get out of its own way."

Packers coach Mike McCarthy was so angry after the Matthews penalty, it looked like his head was going to blast off into low orbit.

According to ESPN Stats and Info, the Packers pass-rusher was called for a total of four roughing the passer penalties from 2009 to 2017. This season alone he has three. In other words, Matthews isn't a serial offender in this area. He's the type of seasoned veteran who should be able to adjust to a reasonable rule change.

A reasonable one.

Matthews, who called the hit "a football play," gave a stirring and accurate defense of his play. He also said something a lot of players and lovers of football are likely thinking:

Michael Cohen @Michael_Cohen13
Here's #Packers OLB Clay Matthews describing his third roughing-the-passer penalty in three weeks: https://t.co/8ZWoCm3BVz

This isn't about being the old goat drinking beer on the couch, grabbing his crotch and talking about the good old days when Bronko Nagurski (Google him) could bend a dude's facemask with his teeth. And it isn't just a Matthews or Packers problem.

It's a larger issue and emblematic of where the NFL is headed-a league that continues to try to become nonviolent despite having violence at its core.

The NFL's effort is centered on protecting QBs at all costs. This isn't a new phenomenon. It's just reached the most absurd heights we've ever seen.
Alex Brandon/Associated Press
And what is the league doing this for? Player safety? I'm not so sure. Some of it, I believe, is about negating the power of defenses, creating more explosive offenses. Another part of it, I believe, is the NFL attempting to shelter itself from any future class-action lawsuits regarding head trauma.

See, the NFL can say, we were trying to protect players.

But the way it's doing that goes against everything we know about tackling and about what football is supposed to be.

We don't need to get too much into the NFL weeds here, but there are numerous areas the league could address to focus on player health and safety. As mentioned, the Thursday night games are despised by players because of a short rest after playing on a Sunday. Get rid of them. Give interior defensive players the same protection afforded others. Increase roster size. Guarantee salaries and health care. There are literally hundreds of better ways to increase safety.

You can't control the constant violence of football with excessive rulesand eggheaded theories for specific types of plays. All you can do with those is confuse players and create a game that fans don't understand.

A game where defenders need to remember to love quarterbacks and not hit them. Say something sweet to them. Maybe wish them a happy fall. Shake their hands. But not too tight.

Make them some tea, Earl Grey, but not hot. Don't want them to burn their tongues.
Mike Freeman covers the NFL for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter: @mikefreemanNFL.

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Penalty on Clay Matthews' Textbook Hit Embroils NFL in Another Rules Controversy

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Alex Brandon/Associated Press The NFL has made its policy on how to treat quarterbacks clear after another ridiculous, absurd and patently stupid penalty on the Packers' Clay Matthews: Do not touch them. Do not hit them too hard, either. Don't put your weight on them. Be delicate. No tussling of hair.

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Bill Cosby is being put on trial next week for the sexual assault charges brought on about him.

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bill cosby sentence: comedian will learn his fate this week on 3 assault charges - cnn

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Bill Cosby will find out his sentence this week on 3 assault charges

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The questions have been looming since Bill Cosby was convicted in April of three counts of assault: Will he go to prison, and, if so, for how long?

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Space X says they will be taking a Japanese billionaire on a trip around the Moon as soon as 2023. Elon Musk is saying that the trip will take 4 or 5 days around the actual moon. Maezawa is going to be on the Big Falcon Spaceship which Space X is still building which will outpower any rocket ever made.

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SpaceX revealed Monday that Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa will be its first space tourist.

Maezawa has chartered a flight aboard the company's Big Falcon Rocket, which is still being developed, for a slingshot trip around the Moon as soon as 2023. He's planning to take six to eight artists with him on the missionfree of charge.

"I want to share this experience and things with as many people as possible," Maezawa told a news conference. "So, I choose to go to the Moon with artists."

The trip will take four or five days, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said at the event.

SpaceX made the announcement from its headquarters in Hawthorne, California - not far from where the Emmy awards were being handed out in Los Angeles on Monday evening.

Maezawa is a rock musician, online fashion mogul and, more recently, a high-rolling art collector. A video presentation about him said he believes art can help usher in world peace.

He wondered on stage what John Lennon, Coco Chanel, Michael Jackson or Andy Warhol would have created had they seen the Moon up close.

Maezawa, whose net worth is estimated at $2.9 billion by Forbes, plans to work with the SpaceX team to select his fellow passengers.

"If you hear from me, please say yes," the Japanese tycoon pleaded. He also encouraged Musk to join the mission.

"As far as me going, I'm not sure," Musk responded. "Maybe we'll both be on it."

Future announcements about the project, which Maezawa is calling "#dearMoon," will be posted on a website and social media accounts under the same name.

The Japanese billionaire has made a down payment for the mission, but the financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"He puts his money where his mouth is," Musk said, describing the amount as "non-trivial."

Maezawa made his fortune by building up Start Today, an e-commerce business that includes a popular online clothing site in Japan. He drew attention last year with the purchase of a Jean-Michel Basquiat painting for $110.5 million.

Ambitious time frame

Maezawa will fly on the Big Falcon Rocket, or BFR, a new spaceship system that SpaceX is building. It consists of a massive rocket booster that promises to out-power any that has ever been built and a towering spacecraft, nicknamed BFS for Big Falcon Spaceship, that will vault out of the Earth's atmosphere.

SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said at a conference outside Washington earlier Monday that she hoped the spaceship would be making short test flights next year.

Shotwell also said the full rocket could reach orbit for the first time in 2020 and possibly deliver cargo to the Moon or Mars in 2022.

"I know that sounds crazy, and we don't usually meet our time lines, but I wanted you to know at least order of magnitude, that's what we're thinking," Shotwell said. "And it sounds crazy but everything we've ever done has sounded crazy to people, both people that love us and people that don't like us so much."

Musk cautioned at the news conference that SpaceX is not certain about the 2023 timing for the moon tourism mission.

He said SpaceX has updated the design for the BFR rocket for the third time in three years. He showed off images of the hardware under construction and a test fire of the vehicle's massive Raptor engine.

The latest blueprints mark the final major redesign of the rocket, whose development is expected to cost roughly $5 billion, according to Musk.

Asked why the company made further changes, Musk said he "did not like the aesthetics" of the previous version. The new design, he added, "might be better," but "it's slightly riskier technically."

Space station mission next year

SpaceX has launched more than 60 missions to deliver cargo or satellites into orbit over the past eight years - all of them without humans on board.

The tourism announcement comes as the company is racing to meet a tight deadline to start flying astronauts to and from the International Space Station aboard its workhorse Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft.

The United States hasn't had the ability to put humans in orbit since the Space Shuttle era ended in 2011. Since then, NASA has relied on Russia to ferry astronauts to the space station.

Shotwell said Monday that SpaceX is planning to conduct a test flight of a version of the Dragon capsule that can carry astronauts before the end of the year. It aims to launch its first crewed mission to the space station in the second quarter of 2019.

When will 'everyday people' get to visit space?

SpaceX has not talked much about putting private citizens in space since February 2017. That's when the company announced it would send two paying customers on a trip around the Moon in 2018 aboard a Falcon Heavy rocket, which became the most powerful operational rocket in the world after its maiden voyage earlier this year.

Musk later reversed course, saying the company no longer has plans to certify the Falcon Heavy for human spaceflight.

SpaceX has said it views space tourism as "an important step toward enabling access for everyday people who dream of traveling to space."

Two of Musk's fellow billionaires - Amazon's Jeff Bezos and Virgin Group's Richard Branson - also want to make a business out of space tourism.

Their ventures plan to conduct short suborbital trips during which passengers can briefly experience weightlessness and an expansive view of Earth.

But it's not clear when space tourism might become available for "everyday people."

Branson's Virgin Galactic has sold tickets for about $250,000, which is more than the median home price in the United States. Bezos' Blue Origin has been tight-lipped about the price of its tickets, but Reuters reported in July that they could cost in the $200,000 range. Blue Origin denied the report to CNN, saying ticket prices had not yet been set.

CNNMoney (New York) First published September 17, 2018: 9:50 PM ET

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SpaceX will take a Japanese billionaire on a trip around the Moon

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Maezawa has chartered a flight aboard the company's Big Falcon Rocket, which is still being developed, for a slingshot trip around the Moon as soon as 2023. He's planning to take six to eight artists with him on the missionfree of charge.

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An Indonesian Teen was found adrift in a fishing hut thousands of kilometers away and he was picked up in a Panamanian vessel. He went adrift because his anchor broke and high winds led him adrift. He survived on fish through the trap but authorities are unsure how he kept hydrated.He was left out there for 49 days.

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An Indonesian teenager who looked after a fishing hut survived for 49 days at sea by cooking fish over wood taken from his vessel, it has emerged.

Aldi Novel Adilang was on the hut 125km (77 miles) off the Indonesian coast in mid-July when heavy winds caused its moorings to snap, casting the 18-year-old adrift.

He ended up thousands of kilometres away near Guam, where he was eventually picked up by a Panamanian vessel.

The 18-year-old, from the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, worked on a "rompong" - a floating fish trap without any paddles or engine.

His job had been to light the rompong's lamps, which are designed to attract fish, the Jakarta Post newspaper reports.

The trap, which is shaped like a hut, floats in the middle of the sea but is anchored to the seabed by ropes.

Every week, the teenager would be brought fresh supplies of food, water and fuel by someone from his company who would come to collect the fish.

'He often cried'

On 14 July, Mr Adilang's rompong was hit by heavy winds, which caused its moorings to snap.

He only had a limited amount of supplies left, so he caught fish and cooked it by burning the rompong's wooden fences.

It is unclear how he remained hydrated.

"Every time he saw a large ship, he said, he was hopeful, but more than 10 ships had sailed past him. None of them stopped or saw [him]."

His mother told the news agency AFP how she learned of her son's disappearance.

"His boss told my husband that he went missing," Net Kahiking said. "So we just surrendered to God and kept praying hard."

On 31 August, Mr Adilang sent an emergency radio signal upon seeing the MV Arpeggio nearby. He was picked up by the Panamanian vessel off the waters of Guam.

The captain of the vessel contacted the Guam coast guard, who instructed the crew to take him to Japan, the ship's destination, according to a statement from the Indonesian Consulate General in Osaka's Facebook page.

Mr Adilang arrived in Japan on 6 September and flew back to Indonesia two days later, where he has now been reunited with his family. He is said to be in good health.

"He is now back at home and he will be 19 on September 30 - we're going to celebrate," his mother said.

More stories about sea rescues:

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Indonesian teenager survives 49 days adrift at sea in 'fishing hut'

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An Indonesian teenager who looked after a fishing hut survived for 49 days at sea by cooking fish over wood taken from his vessel, it has emerged. Aldi Novel Adilang was on the hut 125km (77 miles) off the Indonesian coast in mid-July when heavy winds caused its moorings to snap, casting the 18-year-old adrift.

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A married man in Florida is being charged with 2 counts first degree murder. He killed his "girlfriend", Tania Wise, and his unborn son. Authorities found her laying on the side of a road. Tania was over 8 months pregnant.

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A married Florida man was arrested Sunday for allegedly killing his girlfriend and his unborn baby boy last month, The Miami Herald reported.

Authorities found the body of Tania Wise, 23, and her unborn son along a road in St. Lucie County on Aug. 26, the report said.

Wise, who was over eight months pregnant at the time, was scheduled to have a cesarean section days after she was found, TCPalm.com reported.

It is unclear how Wise was killed, but her body was located in a ditch in a rural area, the report said. Authorities reportedly believe she was killed where she was found.

Jose Soto-Escalera, 41, was charged on two counts of first-degree murder, reports said. Investigators reportedly used DNA evidence and said they learned the suspect called the victim on the day she was killed.

Authorities said his truck was seen in the area where her body was discovered, The Palm Beach Post reported. Investigators do not believe that his wife knew about his relationship with Wise.

Sheriff Ken Mascara said the suspect was armed with an automatic handgun when he was arrested and showed no remorse, WPTV reported.

"We know that he was the father of the baby; we know that she had some other individuals in her life, men in her life; we don't know if jealousy was a motive; we don't know if there was other motives involved," Mascara said.

Edmund DeMarche is a news editor for FoxNews.com. Follow him on Twitter @EDeMarche.

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Married Florida man accused of killing girlfriend carrying his unborn baby, leaving her on side of road

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A married Florida man was arrested Sunday for allegedly killing his girlfriend and his unborn baby boy last month, The Miami Herald reported. Authorities found the body of Tania Wise, 23, and her unborn son along a road in St. Lucie County on Aug. 26, the report said.

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Mary Kay Letourneau, the elementary school teacher who was convicted of raping her 12-year-old student in 1997, stated that she never knew the relationship was illegal. She later had two daughters with the then 12-year-old and married him after she was released from prison in 2005.Their daughters now 21 and 19 stated that their family dynamic was normal to them because they've adapted to it.

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Mary Kay Letourneau, the Seattle elementary school teacher who was convicted of raping her sixth-grade student before she ultimately married him and had two daughters, said in a new interview she didn't know the love affair was a crime.

"If someone had told me, if anyone had told me, there is a specific law that says this is a crime," she said on "Sunday Night" on Australia's Channel Seven. "I did not know. I've said this over and over again. Had I'd known, if anyone knows my personality. Just the idea, this would count as a crime."

She also said she felt "absolutely" wrongfully convicted.

She added that although Vili Fualaau was 12 years old at the time, 22 years her junior, she claimed he "was the boss" and pursued her, as news.com.au reported.

Letourneau, now 56, became tabloid fodder when she pleaded guilty in 1997 to child rape. She was 34 and a married mother of four when her relationship with Fualaau began. The couple married on May 20, 2005, in Woodinville, Washington, after she served over seven years in prison.

Fualaau asked the court for a legal separation from Letourneau in May 2017, but they have reconciled since.

Letourneau told "Sunday Night" she's still in love with her husband.

Their daughters, Audrey, 21, was born after Letourneau's initial arrest, while Georgia, 19, was born during Letourneau's prison time, news.com.au reported.

"It's kind of surprising to people but it's normal for us because we've adapted to it," Audrey said about their family's controversy.

Now a paralegal at the same court where she faced trial 21 years ago, Letourneau has said she's looking to be removed from the sex offenders' registry.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Frank Miles is a reporter and editor covering geopolitics, military, crime, technology and sports for FoxNews.com. His email is Frank.Miles@foxnews.com.

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Mary Kay Letourneau, teacher who had affair with 12-year-old student, said she 'didn't know' it was illegal

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Mary Kay Letourneau, the Seattle elementary school teacher who was convicted of raping her sixth-grade student before she ultimately married him and had two daughters, said in a new interview she didn't know the love affair was a crime.

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Christine Blasey Ford publicly came forward saying that the Supreme Court Nominee sexually assulted her decades ago. Senator Feinstein obtained a letter from the accuser and she immediately shared it with Washington.

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Just days before the Senate Judiciary Committee was set to vote on Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court confirmation, Christine Blasey Ford publicly came forward to accuse the federal appeals judge of sexual assault decades ago.

The sexual assault allegation first came to light in the form of a letter obtained by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who sent shockwaves through Washington when she announced last week she forwarded it to the FBI. Feinstein is the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, which is tasked with deciding whether to formally recommend a Supreme Court nominee to the full Senate for a vote.

But Ford publicly came forward in an interview with The Washington Post over the weekend, saying her "civic responsibility is outweighing my anguish and terror about retaliation."

She has accused Kavanaugh of pinning her to a bed during a house party in Maryland in the early 1980s, attempting to remove her clothes and putting his hand over her mouth when she tried to scream. At the time of the alleged incident, Ford was 15 and Kavanaugh was 17, she said, adding that Kavanaugh was drunk.

"I thought he might inadvertently kill me," Ford said. "He was trying to attack me and remove my clothing."

She said she was able to escape when Mark Judge - a friend of Kavanaugh's who has come to his defense after the allegations became public - jumped on top of them.

Kavanaugh has denied the allegations, saying, "I categorically and unequivocally deny this allegation. I did not do this back in high school or at any time." Judge said he has no recollection of the alleged events.

Kavanaugh and Ford are both expected to testify before lawmakers on Sept. 27.

Read on for a look at four things to know about Ford.

Ford is a college professor

Ford is a clinical psychology professor at Palo Alto University in California. A biostatistician, she "specializes in the design and analysis of clinical trials and other forms of intervention evaluation," according to the university.

Her work has also been published in several academic journals, covering topics such as 9/11 and child abuse.
KAVANAUGH ACCUSER MAY TESTIFY 'UNDER OATH,' KELLYANNE CONWAY SAYS, AS LAWYER OPENS DOOR
Ford has also taught and worked at Stanford University since 1988, according to a Holton-Arms' alumni magazine, the Bethesda, Maryland, school from where she graduated, The Wall Street Journal reported. She teaches at both schools in consortium, according to the newspaper.

The magazine also noted she is an "avid surfer, and she and her family spend a great deal of time surfing in the Santa Cruz and San Francisco areas."

Her husband has backed her allegations

Russell Ford, her husband, also told The Washington Post that his wife detailed the alleged assault during a couple's therapy session in 2012. During therapy, he said his wife talked about a time when she was trapped in a room with two drunken boys, and one of them had pinned her to a bed, molested her and tried to prevent her from screaming.

He said he remembered his wife specifically using Kavanaugh's name. She said during the session, Russell Ford recalled, she was scared he would one day be nominated to the Supreme Court.
KAVANAUGH FACES UNCERTAIN FUTURE AFTER ACCUSER BREAKS SILENCE, REPUBLICANS WORRY IN PRIVATE ABOUT MIDTERMS
Ford provided a copy of the therapist's notes to The Washington Post, which detailed her recollection of being assaulted by young men "from an elitist boys' school" who would become "highly respected and high-ranking members of society in Washington."

Additional notes from a later therapy session said she discussed a "rape attempt" that occurred when she was a teenager, The Washington Post reported.

She's a registered Democrat

Ford is a registered Democrat who has given small monetary donations to political causes, according to The Washington Post.

She has donated to ActBlue, a nonprofit group that aims to help Democrats and progressive candidates, The Wall Street Journal reported.
KAVANAUGH STAUNCH GUN-RIGHTS DEFENSE AMONG HUNDREDS OF DECISIONS IN SPOTLIGHT
She is also among the thousands of medical professionals who signed onto a Physicians for Human Rights letter in June decrying the practice of separating children from their parents at the border and urging the Trump administration to stop it.

Ford already took a polygraph test

Once it was clear that Kavanaugh was President Trump's pick to replace retired Justice Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court, Ford contacted The Washington Post's tip line, according to the newspaper.

She also contacted her representative in Congress, Democrat Anna Eshoo. She sent a letter to Eshoo's office about the allegations that was passed onto Feinstein.

After she retained the services of Debra Katz, a Washington, D.C.-based attorney, she took a polygraph test administered by a former FBI agent. According to the results shared with The Washington Post, the test concluded that Ford was being honest.
Fox News' Gregg Re and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Kaitlyn Schallhorn is a Reporter for Fox News. Follow her on Twitter: @K_Schallhorn.

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Who is Christine Blasey Ford, the professor who accused Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct?

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Just days before the Senate Judiciary Committee was set to vote on Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court confirmation, Christine Blasey Ford publicly came forward to accuse the federal appeals judge of sexual assault decades ago. The sexual assault allegation first came to light in the form of a letter obtained by Sen.

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A teen that ran away with her teacher over a year ago, comes out with the real story.

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It's been a year and a half now since high school teacher Tad Cummins ran off with his then 15-year-old student Elizabeth Thomas.

Across the country and in the small town of Culleoka, Tennessee, where the two lived, many have made up their minds about the exact nature of the relationship between Cummins and Thomas.

But Thomas, now 17, is sharing what she says is the real truth about what happened to her.

"[People] think they know what happened," Thomas told "20/20" in an exclusive interview. "They think that I'm a whore. They think that I like old men and that's not the case."

Watch the full story on ABC News' "20/20" FRIDAY at 10 p.m. ET.

Before she was assigned to Cummins' class, Thomas had been home-schooled her entire life. She told "20/20" their mother abused them at home.

The abuse was so severe, Elizabeth said, that she and her sister finally reported their mother Kimberly Thomas to Child Protective Services. Kimberly Thomas has denied all wrongdoing, but was removed from the home in 2016 and charged with child abuse and neglect. In one case, she was acquitted, but is scheduled for trial on the remaining charges.

The girls' father, Anthony Thomas, told "20/20" last year that he often worked around the clock as an exterminator to support his five children and insisted he didn't know that things were so bad at home.

Their mother's removal prompted Elizabeth Thomas to go to public high school for the first time. She said her classmates bullied her, and she eventually confided in her popular and friendly health teacher, Tad Cummins, then 50 years old.

Over time, Jill Cummins, Cummins' wife of 30 years, said Elizabeth Thomas became like another member of their family. She said she saw the interactions between her husband and Elizabeth as a "father-daughter relationship," and Elizabeth started attending church with them.

"In fact, I called her our third daughter sometimes," Jill Cummins told "20/20" in a previous interview.

The relationship seemed fine until there was a strange interaction between her and Cummins in the school cafeteria, Thomas said.

"I was standing there with a few friends ... and then they said, 'Are you hungry?' And I went, 'I don't have a soul or if I did, I'd be hungry,' or something like that," Elizabeth Thomas said. "And then he came to me and he pointed at me and said, 'My soul sees your soul.' Kind of scary."

However, in Cummins, Thomas said she thought she finally found an adult she could trust.

"He made me feel like I didn't have anyone else, and no one really cared about me like he did," Thomas said.

In an interview last year, Thomas family attorney Jason Whatley told "20/20" soon after the incident began that he believed Cummins targeted Thomas.

"He was specifically grooming this child for a very specific purpose, and that was a relationship. He chose a girl that was clearly having issues, because she went to him for, quote, unquote, counseling. She was the perfect victim," Whatley said.

Thomas said Cummins convinced her not to seek mental health help.

"Whenever I tried to seek mental help, he told me no," Thomas said. "I was feeling real low, and I was wanting to get on anti-depressants and try to go to a therapist. And he told me no and not to do it 'cause it'd change who I was."

Thomas said Cummins, whom she viewed as "a guardian or a mentor" to her, would tell her lies about himself she knew weren't true.

"He would describe it as he went in and he killed people and he saved people and he killed Bin Laden," said Thomas.

Cummins' behavior became inappropriate when he would message her over Instagram.

"Most of them from him would be sexual text ... like sexting. If you know what that - I'm pretty sure you know what that means," Thomas said with a laugh. "I'm sorry."

When they were alone in his classroom, she said the verbal communication was just as explicit.

"It was fourth period or fourth block. I can't remember the conversation. And then next thing I know, he said, 'You'd look pretty nice naked,'" said Thomas.

But there came a point when Thomas knew it had gone too far.

"Whenever he first kissed me, that was whenever I realized, 'This is getting too far,'" she recalled. "I didn't want anyone to really know. I was scared of what would happen if anyone did know. I didn't want to make him mad or make him want to come after me or anything like that."

Thomas called Cummins a "head pusher," explaining that Cummins would sometimes physically push her head and that she was afraid of him most of the time.

"I was afraid to see him angry. He doesn't take 'no' well," said Thomas.

A student reported seeing Thomas kissing Cummins inside of his classroom to school officials. Over the course of a week, the school - and eventually, local police - investigated, but Thomas denied everything.

But even while the investigation was continuing, Thomas says that the school allowed her to go on a class field trip, where she says Cummins was the chaperone.

Thomas said Cummins took the opportunity to proposition her for sex, but she refused.

Days after the field trip, the school directed both Cummins and Thomas not to have contact with each other.

When Cummins was interviewed by detectives, he described the relationship as "that of a father figure at school" and denied "ever kissing" Thomas. A few days later, Cummins was suspended from the Culleoka Unit School after he was reprimanded for once again allowing Thomas to be in his classroom.

When students found what was happening, "there were a lot of names and teasing that came around and a lot of bullying outside and inside of school," Thomas said.

"They felt like I ruined his life," she added.

Even teachers, Thomas said, participated in the teasing.

"A lot of them were made aware, and they also did a lot of the teasing and a lot of the name calling," Thomas said.

Thomas said Cummins forced her to send him secret messages through social media, even after he was suspended.

"I had to keep in communication with him while he was suspended. And any time that I wouldn't post for a few hours, he would go crazy and say that I was cheating on him and saying if he found out that I was with another boy, he'd kill them," Thomas said.

Thomas said the bullying at school became intolerable, and Cummins threatened her, saying she had to go on the run with him or else.

"So he started calling my phone ... sometimes he'd be threatening to kill himself or ending someone else's life if I didn't go," Thomas said. "He said if he couldn't have me, he'd kill himself. Any time he threatened himself, he'd threaten my family."

Thomas said she felt trapped, especially when he threatened her with guns.

"He threatened to shoot himself, to use the guns. He had two of them," said Thomas.

Thomas said she reluctantly agreed to leave town with Cummins.

"I felt really bad about leaving, and I didn't want to leave, but I knew if I didn't, something would happen," said Thomas.

Thomas said she went to a restaurant with an overnight bag at the agreed upon time, but Cummins was late, so she said she left the bag on the ground. Inside the bag was a note that Thomas said she hoped would tip off authorities.

"He told me to write that I was going to New York. That way it'd seem like the police would go up there. He thought they were dumb, but they weren't," Thomas said. "That was his plan, but I wrote that I was going to New York City, and I made it sound unbelievable, so they knew I was going the opposite way."

Thomas said she had also told her sister Sarah, "Call the police if I'm not home by 6."

"I just wanted the police to be called because I knew once I got in that car, I wasn't getting out," Thomas said.

Cummins picked Thomas up at the restaurant after stopping at a local gas station to fill up his tank.

"As soon as we went to go leave, he set a gun in the middle console, and I knew that I wasn't getting out of the car," Thomas said. "He made me throw my phone off a bridge and his phone as well, that way the police couldn't track us. And then he disconnected the GPS by a screwdriver in the glove compartment, and he broke off the front, and then he unhooked the radio and unhooked the GPS."

As their journey began, Thomas said Cummins kept careful watch over her.

"It was a like a kidnapping. I had to stay in the car with him at all times, and I wasn't allowed to be in a store without him. And if he was in the store, all the doors had to stay locked, and he'd turn on the alarm."

Thomas said when they were in Oklahoma, Cummins dyed his beard and got her dye to change her hair color. And when they stayed at hotels, Thomas said she had to sleep next to Cummins.

"At the hotels, I would shower every morning because I felt dirty and disgusting every morning. And he didn't help at all," said Thomas.

"The things he would make you do," Thomas said with a sigh. "It wouldn't help the way that I was feeling. And I'd just try to shower to get away from him, but sometimes he wouldn't let me shower alone 'cause I had to be in the same space with him at the exact same time."

Thomas said she couldn't leave the room when he was sleeping.

"He made me sleep naked, and my clothes would be put somewhere else. And he was a light sleeper, so if I moved, he'd be awake. And I couldn't even use the bathroom at night without him having to stand right there," said Thomas. "He was really mean and said hurtful things a lot of the time. He called me his wife sometimes and said that we were going to get married and I was going to live with him until I died."

Cummins even controlled what Thomas ate, she said.

"He told me he likes skinny girls. And I ate what he told me to 'cause if I didn't, I wouldn't get it at all," said Thomas. "I was hungry."

Along the way, Thomas said the two stopped in Colorado, including in Aspen, and then Utah, which is where they were when Cummins started buying alcohol for her, Thomas said.

"Because I was having problems, and he was done dealing with them," said Thomas.

The drive took them across several states, and Thomas said that she covertly collected evidence on the journey.

"From each state that I took, I had rocks, and I'd write what county or wherever we were and then what state. That was if I did get caught or he got caught, and I got rescued, that someone would see the rocks and hopefully he could be charged for each one that he was in," she said.

Thomas said she knew there was a search for her and Cummins after seeing a news report once on the TV at one of the hotels they stayed at.

"I remember it was a girl announcing it, a nationwide Amber Alert, and I knew it was for me," said Thomas.

Cummins wanted to continue their journey down south of the border, Thomas said.

"He wanted to go to Mexico 'cause apparently that's free land. And he wanted to go to try to go to Panama because that's where he was before on mission trips," Thomas said.

Thomas said Cummins bought a kayak, hoping they could kayak all the way to Panama, but when that failed, Thomas decided they were going to go to the Black Bear Ranch commune.

"Because nobody would recognize us, and it was the last, like, free place on Earth, that, where, people come to be free or something like that," Thomas said. "I knew that once I was at Black Bear Ranch, I couldn't go anywhere. There was literally nobody out there."

The commune, which is located off the grid in California, took the pair in, giving them a bed and sharing their food.

But things quickly went south as the couple openly defied the commune's work rules, staying in bed all day, and Cummins insisted on carrying around a pocket knife for protection.

"The people, they liked me a lot. A lot of them did. It was, kind of, 'cause I didn't argue. I'd clean up after myself. I didn't make too much noise. I was quiet," said Thomas.

Thomas and Cummins were asked to leave the commune.

"He got mad and took out his knife and then dropped it on the ground and started screaming," Thomas said. "I thought, 'This is going to be the end. He's going to shoot somebody.'"

Down on their luck, the two were taken in by a caretaker, Griffin Barry, who gave them a place to stay in a cabin.

Barry told a neighbor nearby about the couple, and later that night, the neighbor warned him that the two might be the fugitives featured in an Amber Alert. Barry and the neighbor called police. With the tip, authorities raced to the small town in North California and surrounded the cabin.

"I came out of the cabin and it was early morning. I think he went to go wash out our dishes from the night before. But then I saw someone up on the hill," Thomas said. "I knew it was the police. And as soon as he walked around the bush, all you hear is, 'Hands up. It's over.'"

Thirty-eight days after Thomas left her home in Tennessee, she was finally found.

"That was the best day of my life," she said.

Before police could take Cummins away, she said he whispered one last thing to her.

"He said not to tell them that we have done anything, that he forced me to go. Say that I went willingly. Say that he was trying to protect me," Thomas said. "He told me to go along with it."

Eventually, Thomas detailed her story to the police, no longer afraid of what her teacher could do to her.

"I know he's a bad man, and I've blamed myself a lot. But now I know that he's at fault. He himself made him do it. Other people don't choose your actions. You do," she said.

Cummins' attorney declined to comment for this report.

Going home was overwhelming for the teen, who said she was bombarded by people and their questions for her. Thomas entered inpatient counseling.

Thomas' family is suing the school board for allegedly failing to protect her from Cummins. The school board referred ABC News to the response it filed in court, which "denies it failed in any of its obligations" OR "permitted conditions to empower a predator" and that injures were solely "the result of the acts of Tad Eric Cummins."

Thomas insists adults around her could have saved her from what she experienced.

"Why didn't they notice? They knew. And they know that they knew. And I really hope they feel guilty about it," Thomas said. "I pray that one day they might say something and speak up that they knew. And if they don't, great shame on them."

Cummins pleaded guilty to crossing state lines for sex with a minor and faces up to 30 years in prison.

Today, Thomas is living back in her hometown in Tennessee.

"It's like home, and some people recognize me and call me out. Some people don't," she said. "This where I'm going to be at. They're going to have to deal with it."

She is focusing on what she can: moving on. She works at a coffee shop and has a boyfriend and a new puppy. She is working on getting her GED and then plans on going to college with the hopes of becoming a medical examiner.

When asked what her dreams are for her life, Thomas said, "To have a family and protect them and not let them lead down the road like I was and make them have a better life. I am a stronger person than I was and I'm not afraid."

Watch the full story on ABC News' "20/20" FRIDAY at 10 p.m. ET.

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Teen taken by teacher says he threatened her to make her go on the run with him

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It's been a year and a half now since high school teacher Tad Cummins ran off with his then 15-year-old student Elizabeth Thomas. Across the country and in the small town of Culleoka, Tennessee, where the two lived, many have made up their minds about the exact nature of the relationship between Cummins and Thomas.

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This week in politics, Brett Kavanaugh was accused of sexually assaulting a second women 30 years previous. Brett Kavanaugh denies these claims and Trump still shows his support by calling the accusations purely political. There will be a hearing this week from one of the accusers and the senate will deal with the information as it comes.

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President Trump on Monday offered a full-throated defense of his Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh in the face of new allegations of sexual misconduct, calling the claims "totally political."

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"He is a fine man with an unblemished past and these are highly unsubstantiated statements from people represented by lawyers," the president said as he arrived at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. "Judge Kavanaugh is an outstanding person and I am with him all the way."

He continued, "For people to come out of the woodwork from 36 years ago and 30 years ago and never mention it, all of a sudden it happens, in my opinion, it's totally political. It's totally political."

On Sunday, The New Yorker reported that a Yale classmate of Kavanaugh's claimed the nominee exposed himself to her at engaged in unwanted contact at a dormitory party 35 years ago.

Kavanaugh has denied the latest claim, saying the alleged incident "did not happen."

"The people who knew me then know that this did not happen, and have said so. This is a smear, plain and simple," he said in a statement issued by the White House Sunday night.

White House spokesperson Kerri Kupec said the accusation is part of a "coordinated smear campaign by the Democrats designed to tear down a good man." She said the White House "stands firmly behind Judge Kavanaugh."

Kavanaugh is set to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday following testimony from another accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, who claims Kavanaugh assaulted her during a high school party in the early 1980s.

Kavanaugh has adamantly denied the allegations leveled by Ford.

"I look forward to testifying on Thursday about the truth, and defending my good name--and the reputation for character and integrity I have spent a lifetime building--against these last-minute allegations," he said Sunday night.

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Allegations against Kavanaugh are 'totally political,' Trump says

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President Trump on Monday offered a full-throated defense of his Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh in the face of new allegations of sexual misconduct, calling the claims "totally political." "He is a fine man with an unblemished past and these are highly unsubstantiated statements from people...

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Sirius XM is buying Pandora for a whopping 3.5 billion dollar merge. This merge is happening because of the competition with other music sites.

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SiriusXM is buying Pandora in a $3.5 billion all-stock deal.

The deal will create the world's largest audio entertainment company, the companies said early Monday.

SiriusXM has 36 million subscribers in North America. It was formed with the merger of the Sirius and XM satellite radio services in 2008.

Sirius had paid Howard Stern hundreds of millions of dollars to lure him from traditional radio in 2006. The combined company has built a stable of stars with exclusive programming to go along with its lineup of music, news, talk and sports.

Pandora , founded in 2000, was a groundbreaking streaming music service. It has more than 70 million monthly active users.

CNNMoney (New York) First published September 24, 2018: 7:26 AM ET

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SiriusXM is buying Pandora in $3.5 billion deal

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The deal will create the world's largest audio entertainment company, the companies said early Monday. SiriusXM has 36 million subscribers in North America. It was formed with the merger of the Sirius and XM satellite radio services in 2008. Sirius had paid Howard Stern hundreds of millions of dollars to lure him from traditional radio in 2006.

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Mary Kay Letourneau, the Seattle elementary school teacher who was convicted of raping her sixth-grade student before she ultimately married him and had two daughters, said in a new interview she didn't know the love affair was a crime.

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Mary Kay Letourneau, the Seattle elementary school teacher who was convicted of raping her sixth-grade student before she ultimately married him and had two daughters, said in a new interview she didn't know the love affair was a crime.

"If someone had told me, if anyone had told me, there is a specific law that says this is a crime," she said on "Sunday Night" on Australia's Channel Seven. "I did not know. I've said this over and over again. Had I'd known, if anyone knows my personality. Just the idea, this would count as a crime."

She also said she felt "absolutely" wrongfully convicted.

She added that although Vili Fualaau was 12 years old at the time, 22 years her junior, she claimed he "was the boss" and pursued her, as news.com.au reported.

Letourneau, now 56, became tabloid fodder when she pleaded guilty in 1997 to child rape. She was 34 and a married mother of four when her relationship with Fualaau began. The couple married on May 20, 2005, in Woodinville, Washington, after she served over seven years in prison.

Fualaau asked the court for a legal separation from Letourneau in May 2017, but they have reconciled since.

Letourneau told "Sunday Night" she's still in love with her husband.

Their daughters, Audrey, 21, was born after Letourneau's initial arrest, while Georgia, 19, was born during Letourneau's prison time, news.com.au reported.

"It's kind of surprising to people but it's normal for us because we've adapted to it," Audrey said about their family's controversy.

Now a paralegal at the same court where she faced trial 21 years ago, Letourneau has said she's looking to be removed from the sex offenders' registry.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Frank Miles is a reporter and editor covering geopolitics, military, crime, technology and sports for FoxNews.com. His email is Frank.Miles@foxnews.com.

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Mary Kay Letourneau, teacher who had affair with 12-year-old student, said she 'didn't know' it was illegal

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Mary Kay Letourneau, the Seattle elementary school teacher who was convicted of raping her sixth-grade student before she ultimately married him and had two daughters, said in a new interview she didn't know the love affair was a crime.

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Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes stuns the nfl leading the Chiefs to a 3-0 start. This is Mahomes' first year as a starting qb after backing up Alex Smith last season. People are calling him "Showtime Mahomes" because of his outstanding performance so far this season.

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8:00 AM ET

Adam TeicherESPN Staff Writer

Close

Covered Chiefs for 20 seasons for Kansas City Star

Joined ESPN in 2013

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Inside the Kansas City Chiefs' locker room, they've been looking for a nickname for their record-breaking young quarterback, Patrick Mahomes. Tight end Travis Kelce may have settled the issue in the moments after the Chiefs' 38-27 win over the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.

"Showtime Mahomes."

The nickname may or may not stick, but it seems appropriate for the way Mahomes and the Chiefs are scoring points. They rolled to a 35-10 halftime lead by scoring a touchdown on each of their five first-half possessions.

Mahomes threw three touchdown passes, giving him 13 this season for the 3-0 Chiefs. He set the NFL record for touchdown throws in the first three games of a season. Peyton Manning previously held the record with 12 in 2013 while playing with the Denver Broncos.

The Chiefs enjoyed some high-scoring games under former quarterback Alex Smith but not with the consistency they've shown the past three weeks. They're loving every minute of their new life.

"He keeps surprising everybody every single week, even his teammates, and it gets us going, playing with confidence, and that stuff is contagious, and we just keep it rolling from there," Kelce said.

"Man, it's a blast, I'm not gonna lie. Every single time we come off to the sidelines, everybody's excited about what just happened on the field. We've all never been a part of something like this. ... It's a fun ride right now."

Just about every eligible Chiefs receiver is getting in on the party. Nine players have at least one touchdown catch through three games and, according to Elias, only the 1997 New England Patriots have been that equitable this early in the season. The Chiefs had seven different players catch a touchdown all of last season.

Chris Conley, Demetrius Harris and Sammy Watkins had the receiving touchdowns against the 49ers.

"These guys I have at the receiver position can really get open," Mahomes said. "It's hard for teams to have to play every single one of them. I know if I get through my reads there will be someone open. The offensive line is blocking so well I can kind of sit in the pocket, get through my whole entire read and find the open guy."

Mahomes rarely has to squeeze the ball into a tight window. He frequently has receivers plenty open. On some plays, he has more than one open receiver to choose from.

As a result, the Chiefs scored a touchdown on each of their first five trips inside the San Francisco 20. That made them 11-for-11 in the red zone this season. They finally settled for a field goal on their final trip inside the 20, one on which they advanced no deeper than the Niners' 19-yard line.

The Chiefs scored a touchdown on 42 percent of their red zone trips last season, which was the fourth-lowest percentage in the league. Many of the touchdowns they're scoring this season were field goal tries in 2017.

"He's seeing it down there," coach Andy Reid said of Mahomes. "Those are small windows in there and he's able to see it and throw it."

The Chiefs afterward were buzzing about one Mahomes touchdown pass in particular, a 4-yard throw to Conley in the second quarter. It was a busted play, with Mahomes initially being flushed to his left before being chased back the other way.

While sprinting to his right with defenders in pursuit, Mahomes still threw a dart to Conley in the back right corner of the end zone.

"You can't teach that," Reid said.

The Chiefs have seen that kind of play from Mahomes before. Conley called it "The magic of Pat."

"He's not necessarily looking to run," Conley said. "He can throw those fastballs."

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Chiefs having 'a blast' with 'Showtime Mahomes' at QB

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8:00 AM ET Adam TeicherESPN Staff Writer Close Covered Chiefs for 20 seasons for Kansas City Star Joined ESPN in 2013 KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Inside the Kansas City Chiefs' locker room, they've been looking for a nickname for their record-breaking young quarterback, Patrick Mahomes.

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A 6 year old boy went missing when he was walking in the park with his dad. The little boy was running, and his dad was running after him and he lost track of him, and hasn't seen him since. They have been searching for him, but they have nothing so far. The FBI joined the search too.

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A massive search effort is underway in southwest North Carolina where a young boy with autism vanished over the weekend after going to a local park with his father.

The search for 6-year-old Maddox Ritch ramped up on Sunday as the FBI joined more than two dozen local and state law enforcement agencies to look for the boy, who was last seen at a park in Gastonia, North Carolina, about 20 miles west of Charlotte, authorities said.

"We're going to explore all possibilities, including abduction," FBI Special Agent Jason Kaplan said Sunday, "but we're also going to make sure we search every inch of land around here to make sure that he's not simply lost."

FBI Charlotte

Maddox, who is described as nonverbal, was walking near a lake at Rankin Lake Park in Gastonia at around 1:30 p.m. Saturday when his father lost sight of him, authorities said.

"They were walking around the lake," Rachel Bagley, Gastonia spokeswoman, told Charlotte ABC affiliate WSOC. "They got around to the back side of the lake. He started running, according to the parents, and when they started running after him, they lost sight of him, and no one has seen him ever since."

In addition to the FBI, at least 24 local and state law enforcement agencies and more than 100 volunteers are helping with the search, according to the Gastonia Police Department.

Gastonia Police Chief Robert Helton said officers were searching the lake, reviewing the park's surveillance footage and interviewing residents in the area for clues.

FBI Charlotte

"If you were at Rankin Lake Park on Saturday and saw Maddox or took video or photos of their outing at the park, call us," Helton said Sunday. "We know a lot of people were in the park and we have spoken to many of them, but we have not spoken to everyone.

"No piece of information is too small. Something you may think is insignificant could be helpful to our case," he added.

More than 2 dozen agencies are helping @GPDNC search for Maddox Ritch. You can help by providing information, please no rumors or speculation. It's important we all focus on finding Maddox. If you were in Rankin Lake Park Saturday, call 704-869-1075. #FindMaddox pic.twitter.com/PcDrJwIv8n
- FBI Charlotte (@FBICharlotte) September 24, 2018

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which is also assisting in the search, said Maddox may be in need of medical attention, according to a statement on its website.

Police said Maddox is 4 feet tall with blond hair and blue eyes. He was last seen wearing an orange T-shirt with the words "I am the man" and black shorts.

Anyone with information is asked to call the police department's special tip line at 704-869-1075.

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Boy, 6, vanishes during park trip with parents

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A massive search effort is underway in southwest North Carolina where a young boy with autism vanished over the weekend after going to a local park with his father.

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The deputy head of the Revolutionary Guard was at a funeral for one of the victims of the attack when he says  “You have seen our revenge before ... You will see that our response will be crushing and devastating and you will regret what you have done.”

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Iran warns US, Israel of ‘devastating’ response after deadly parade attack, report says

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A top military official in Iran on Monday warned the U.S. and Israel of a “devastating” response after he blamed the two countries of playing a role in Saturday’s assault that killed 25, including 12 members of the Revolutionary Guards, Reuters reported.

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Forecasters are keeping an eye on Tropical Storm Kirk in the Atlantic. Kirk should strengthen, but remain a Tropical storm through midweek

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tropical storm kirk gaining speed in atlantic - cnn

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Tropical Storm Kirk gaining speed in Atlantic

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As forecasters warn of more dangerous flooding in the Carolinas from Hurricane Florence's torrential rainfall, they're also keeping an eye on Tropical Storm Kirk in the Atlantic.

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For 49 days an Indonesian teen. He was on a wooden fish trap. he ran out of food after a week but survived on fish and the seawater he squeezed from his clothes. He said he passed so many ships and would turn on a lamp every time he passed one. He was rescued over 1,000 km from his original location.

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A South Carolina math teacher is accused of lowering a student's grade because he stopped having sex with her.

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A South Carolina math teacher is accused of lowering a student's grade because he stopped having sex with her.

The young man and his mother are suing the Charleston County School District for negligence.

The Post and Courier reports that 27-year-old Jennifer Olajire-Aro allegedly "encouraged and coerced" her student, then 17, into having sex with her multiple times. The civil lawsuit filed last week says the teacher would remind him that she controlled his grade if he tried to fend off her advances.

The lawsuit says he told his mother after the teacher lowered his grade from a 98 to 89 when he refused her in December. She was arrested that month. Her criminal case is pending.

A schools spokesman said the district hadn't seen the lawsuit yet.

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Information from: The Post and Courier, http://www.postandcourier.com

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Lawsuit: Teacher used grades to coerce student into sex

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A South Carolina math teacher is accused of lowering a student's grade because he stopped having sex with her. The young man and his mother are suing the Charleston County School District for negligence. The Post and Courier reports that 27-year-old Jennifer Olajire-Aro...

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A friendship of five decades was torn apart over a dispute regarding Bruno Mars. The trio of friends were debating whether or not Bruno Mars was singing the current song that was being played when one man pulled out a gun. He then pistol-whipped his friend, causing the gun to go off, and was taken into custody with charges of battery and criminal recklessness. No one was seriously injured.

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From 'Locked Out Of Heaven' to just plain locked up, a decades-long friendship between two Indiana men may reportedly be over because of... a Bruno Mars song.

Roger Washburn, 71, is facing a battery charge after allegedly pistol-whipping his friend during a dispute over whether or not the popular artist was singing a song being played at Washburn's home Friday in Greenwood, the Indianapolis Star report ed.

The Johnson County Sheriff's Office said they received a call from a man who said Washburn, him and a third person were listening to music when the incident unfolded.

The man, who reportedly told police the trio have been friends for five decades, said Washburn disputed the other man's claim that a song being played was performed by Bruno Mars.

When Washburn was shown evidence proving him to be wrong, the man said, the two friends got into an argument and Washburn pulled out a gun. The caller was then allegedly pistol-whipped - with the gun going off as a result -- after calling Washburn an expletive, the man told the Indianapolis Star.

A police report viewed by the newspaper said when officers visited the home later, Washburn admitted to striking his friend in the face with a .38 revolver and was jailed on suspicion of battery and criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon.

The victim, the police report stated, suffered "a small gouge on his right cheek, blood on his pants, shirt and a red abrasion on his right forearm," according to FOX59.

It was not immediately clear which Bruno Mars song started the dispute.

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Indiana man reportedly pistol whips friend of 50 years in dispute over Bruno Mars song

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From 'Locked Out Of Heaven' to just plain locked up, a decades-long friendship between two Indiana men may reportedly be over because of... a Bruno Mars song. Roger Washburn, 71, is facing a battery charge after allegedly pistol-whipping his friend during a dispute over whether or not the popular artist was singing a song being played at Washburn's home Friday in Greenwood, the Indianapolis Star report ed.

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An Indonesian teen, Adilang, was a drift at sew for 7 weeks. He was afloat on a wooden fishing trap and was finally rescued  by the MV Arpeggio, an Panamanian vessel, which rescued Adilang off Guam.