MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – Former Democratic candidate for Florida governor, Andrew Gillum, was involved in a suspected crystal meth incident early Friday morning in Miami Beach, authorities said.

According to a police report, Miami Beach Fire Rescue crews were called to a hotel at 1100 West Avenue shortly before 1 a.m. regarding a suspected drug overdose.

Authorities said Gillum, 40, and two other men were inside the hotel room at the time.

According to the report, one of the men, Aldo Mejias, 56, told officers that he gave Travis Dyson, 30, his credit card information to rent a hotel room for the night.

Police said Dyson rented the room around 4 p.m. Thursday and Mejias arrived at the room later that night, at which time he found Dyson and Gillum inside the hotel room, appearing to be under the influence of an unknown substance.

According to the police report, Dyson opened the hotel room door and then immediately walked to the bed and collapsed in a prone position.

He told officers Dyson was having difficulty breathing and began vomiting on the bed before collapsing a second time, the report stated.

He said he began conducting chest compressions on Dyson before calling 911.

According to the police report, officers who responded to the hotel tried to speak with Gillum but he was too inebriated.

Fire Rescue personnel took Dyson to Mount Sinai Medical Center in stable condition.

They returned to the hotel to check on Gillum, who authorities said was stable and whose vitals were now normal.

According to the police report, officers found three small clear bags inside the hotel room containing suspected crystal meth.

The suspected narcotics were impounded as evidence.

Authorities said Gillum left the hotel room and "returned to his residence without incident.”

Gillum released a statement, saying he was at a wedding Thursday night and was drinking, but denied taking any methamphetamines.

“I was in Miami last night for a wedding celebration when first responders were called to assist one of my friends,” Gillum said in the statement. "While I had too much to drink, I want to be clear that I have never used methamphetamines. I apologize to the people of Florida for the distraction this has caused our movement.

“I’m thankful to the incredible Miami Beach EMS team for their efforts. I will spend the next few weeks with my family and appreciate privacy during this time.”

https://www.local10.com/news/local/2020/03/13/andrew-gillum-involved-in-suspected-crystal-meth-incident-in-miami-beach-police-say/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=snd&utm_content=wplg10

13 Mar 2020

Military.com | By Gina Harkins

The North Korean regime only recently resumed training sorties after going weeks without flying an airplane, the top U.S. commander in South Korea said, indicating the hermit kingdom has been hit by the globally spreading novel coronavirus.

North Korea hasn't reported any cases of the coronavirus, formally known as COVID-19, which has spread worldwide. The country shares borders with China, where the illness originated, and South Korea, which has reported thousands of cases.

But Army Gen. Robert Abrams, head of U.S. Forces Korea, said there are indications the disease has also hit the North.

"It is a closed-off nation so we can't say emphatically that they have cases, but we're fairly certain they do," he said in a Friday teleconference with reporters. "But what I do know is that their armed forces have fundamentally been on lockdown for 30 days and only recently have they started routine training again."

The regime went 24 days without flying a military plane, Abrams said. Training sorties have since resumed.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made two public appearances this week, Reuters reported, to oversee military training exercises. The first was Monday when Kim watched missile tests. He appeared again Thursday to observe an artillery exercise.

Photos show Kim attending the events without any protective gear during the outings, though his aides all wore the same black masks, likely to prevent exposure to the sometimes-deadly virus.

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2020/03/13/north-korean-military-appears-be-lockdown-over-coronavirus-4-star-says.html