Houston does the exact opposite of 'defunding the police'

While cities across the country are rallying for defunded police departments, Houston leadership decided to go in a different direction– Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo has sent a message to laid off officers, telling them to come to Houston.

Acevedo told Fox 26 that the new program would make it easier for qualified out-of-state police officers to transfer and serve in Houston. This program could involve a 10-week academy course, instead of 6 months.

Acevedo's announcement comes after the city of Austin decided to slash almost a third of its police budget. According to Fox 26, Austin City Council unanimously voted to cut roughly $150 million from Austin’s Police Department.

https://www.chron.com/politics/article/Houston-does-the-exact-opposite-of-defunding-the-15495232.php

Pilot Dies in Helicopter Crash Battling Calif. Wildfires as Hundreds of Blazes Impact State

A firefighting pilot from California was killed in a helicopter crash Wednesday while battling one of the hundreds of wildfires that have been burning across the state, officials said.

The unidentified pilot was on board a Bell UH-1 helicopter Wednesday morning to assist with firefighter operations when the aircraft crashed "under unknown circumstances" south of New Coalinga Municipal Airport in Coalinga, a spokesperson with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirms to PEOPLE.

Fire officials told the Los Angeles Times that the helicopter, which was privately owned and contracted with the state to battle wildfires, was on a solo water-dropping mission for the Hills fire at the time of the fatal incident.

https://people.com/human-interest/firefighter-pilot-dies-helicopter-crash-battling-california-wildfires-11k-lightning-bolts-strike/

Facebook cracks down on Antifa, removes 980 related groups

Facebook has waged a digital war against Antifa and others encouraging rioting on its platform by removing 980 groups they used to sow chaos and discord.

In a rare step by a social media company, Facebook explicitly sought to disrupt Antifa’s operations and said it restricted 1,400 hashtags related to the militant leftists and tore down 520 pages and 160 ads.

Facebook’s crackdown on Antifa is a harbinger of things to come, as the company said it has begun changing its policies to more aggressively go after militia groups supporting violent protests.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/aug/20/facebook-removes-980-antifa-related-groups-impleme/

White House coronavirus expert Fauci has surgery to remove vocal cord polyp

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top epidemiologist, had a vocal cord polyp removed via outpatient surgery Thursday morning, Fox News has confirmed.

As a result of the surgery, Fauci will have to rest "his voice for a few days," according to a spokesperson. CNN first reported the story.

Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has been one of the highest-profile figures as the Trump administration has responded to the coronavirus pandemic. He was a regular at the White House Coronavirus Task Force briefings earlier in the pandemic and has since been a regular in TV interviews, social media interviews with celebrities like Matthew McConaughey and in congressional hearings.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fauci-vocal-cord-surgery

Russia to test 'Sputnik V' COVID-19 vaccine in 40K human subjects

Aug. 20 (UPI) – The Russian government said Thursday it will begin clinical trials next week for its already-registered COVID-19 vaccine and it will involve tens of thousands of human subjects.

Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, told reporters the trials will be done in several countries, including Russia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. He said the trials will involve 40,000 humans.

Dmitriev also said Russia hopes to have detailed scientific data published in a major journal sometime this month.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced earlier this month that Moscow had registered the "Sputnik V" vaccine and said he'd even administered it to one of his daughters. The announcement was met with surprise and skepticism in the medical community, as the vaccine had not been put through late-stage clinical trials, which is a key phase for any vaccine development.

https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2020/08/20/Russia-to-test-Sputnik-V-COVID-19-vaccine-in-40K-human-subjects/9221597940408/

Inspectors Said Her Toxic Leadership Was 'Worst Seen in 20 Years.' She Just Became a 1-Star

Nine months before Air Force Brig. Gen. Jennifer Grant pinned on her first star, members of the team tasked with investigating her behavior in the years leading up to her promotion said they'd never seen airmen so afraid to face their commander.

The climate Grant created while leading the 50th Space Wing at Schriever Air Force Base in Colorado was described as "tyrannical" and "toxic," by rank-and-file members and leaders alike. That's according to a 122-page Air Force Inspector General report on Grant's time leading the command from June 2017 to June 2019.

Investigators interviewed more than 60 witnesses, according to the report obtained by Military.com. The inspector general substantiated three complaints made about Grant: that she created an unhealthy work environment, failed to treat people with dignity and respect, and improperly accepted a gift from a subordinate.

The team tasked with investigating Grant's behavior while leading the 50th Space Wing described the conditions she set for her subordinates as "the worst seen in 20 years.

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2020/08/19/inspectors-said-her-toxic-leadership-was-worst-seen-20-years-she-just-became-1-star.html

Bomb-Sniffing 'Cyborg Locusts' Advance Under Navy-Funded Research

Navy-funded researchers have discovered that a locust's sensitive "horns" can distinguish between the scents of TNT and other explosives – a development that one day could herald the deployment of bomb-sniffing, electronically augmented bug swarms.

The research by a team from Washington University in St. Louis, published this month in the science journal "Biosensors and Biolectronics: X," is the first proof of concept for a system that aims to tap into the antennae and brainpower of garden-variety bugs to create an advanced bomb-detection sensor.

The work is funded by two Office of Naval Research grants totaling more than $1.1 million, and biomedical engineering professor Barani Raman believes it has the potential to produce a biorobotic sniffer that would be leaps ahead of entirely man-made "electronic noses."

Locusts, which differ from ordinary grasshoppers in their tendency to swarm sometimes in biblical proportions have had about 250 million years to refine their sensory organs. A single antenna, or horn, has 50,000 neurons of some 50 different types, researchers say.

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2020/08/19/bomb-sniffing-cyborg-locusts-advance-under-navy-funded-research.html

Sixth lawsuit filed in deaths at West Virginia VA hospital

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A sixth lawsuit has been filed involving the sudden deaths of patients at a West Virginia veterans hospital where a former nursing assistant admitted to intentionally killing seven people with fatal doses of insulin.

A federal lawsuit was filed Wednesday in the July 2018 death of Russell R. Posey Sr. at the Louis A. Johnson VA Medical Center in Clarksburg.

Charleston attorney Tony O'Dell filed the lawsuit on behalf of Posey's son and daughter, who are co-executors of his estate. The elder Posey, 92, served as a chief petty officer in the U.S. Navy during World War II.

The lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages, is the latest to allege a widespread system of failures at the hospital. Similar lawsuits have been filed in the deaths of five other veterans at the hospital in January, March, April and June of 2018.

https://www.stripes.com/news/veterans/sixth-lawsuit-filed-in-deaths-at-west-virginia-va-hospital-1.641950

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