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gyrlversion · 5 years ago

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Amazon is developing high-tech surveillance tools for an eager customer: Americas police

On July 12, a few hours before dawn, a man in Chandler, Arizona, was jolted awake by an alert on his phone. It was coming from his Ring security camera, which had detected movement outside his home.

The live feed showed a group of young men breaking into cars. The man hollered at them through his front door, then called the police.

As an officer arrived, the men sped off in a car, leaving behind cellphones, tools and other things they’d taken during their interrupted burglary spree. They abandoned the getaway vehicle in a housing complex and turned themselves in later that morning.

By then, the homeowner had showed police his camera footage and posted it to Neighbors, an app run by Ring, which is owned by Amazon. Ring doesn’t just make the wireless security cameras — it also accesses police data to alert residents of potential crimes, encourages users to share their recordings of suspicious behavior, and connects them with law enforcement.

“Thank goodness for the Ring!!!” the man wrote on Neighbors.

“Thanks for posting,” a Chandler police officer responded.

The exchange was typical of the way police are using Ring, helping it spread its business while using it to detect and investigate crime. The arrangement in Chandler is among dozens of such partnerships around the country, and part of a much broader effort by Amazon to deepen its reach into law enforcement — which critics say is expanding the government’s surveillance of Americans.

Amazon, known mainly for its online consumer marketplace, is becoming a potent resource for federal, state and local authorities, peddling an array of tools that harness the power of cloud-based computing, artificial intelligence and video analysis.

Some of the products seem mundane, offering agencies a relatively cheap method of storing, sharing and crunching data through networks of remote web servers known as the cloud. Others are contentious, making it easier for police to identify and monitor people. Together, they show how one company has broadened its influence by supplying law enforcement with technology that has modernized crime fighting but is evolving too fast for government oversight to keep up.

Amazon’s government work has become a significant component of the company’s move beyond e-commerce and into tools that run the internet. Its government contracts, through the company’s cloud-computing subsidiary, Amazon Web Services, have ballooned from $200 million in 2014 to $2 billion today, Daniel Ives, who researches Amazon at the financial advisory firm Wedbush Securities, said. That has allowed the company to build “a fortress of cloud deals” that include police departments, federal law enforcement, national intelligence agencies and immigration authorities.

A Ring doorbell camera.Jessica Hill / AP file

“In so many investigations, time is of the essence, and this enables many police departments to access data so much more quickly and in forms that are much more helpful,” Ives said.

But critics say Amazon’s products and services also show how a corporation can position itself within government in ways that could lead to overreach and abuse.

Privacy and civil liberties advocates have warned that the Ring partnerships are creating a new layer of government surveillance. Amazon employees, artificial intelligence researchers and activist investors have asked the company to stop selling its facial recognition service to law enforcement, to stop providing web-hosting services that help federal immigration authorities, and to create a committee that would review the potential societal consequences of its products.

“While providing secure cloud storage does not appear to pose privacy threats, providing a package of technologies that includes powerful surveillance tools like facial recognition and doorbell cameras, plus the capability to pool data into a massive database and run data analytics, does create very real privacy threats,” said Sharon Bradford Franklin, policy director of New America’s Open Technology Institute, a nonprofit that advocates for digital rights.

For example, Franklin said, a homeowner might voluntarily share the footage from their doorbell camera with police seeking clues to a crime that occurred nearby. The police might then run the video through facial recognition software, which is imperfect and might incorrectly identify innocent people as potential suspects. Those wrong matches could then be shared with other agencies, such as immigration enforcement, with far-reaching consequences.

“I am not sure Amazon has quite grappled with how their innovative technologies intersect with issues of privacy, liberty and government police power,” said Andrew Ferguson, a law professor at the University of the District of Columbia who studies how police use technology.

“The pushback they are getting comes from a failure to recognize that there is a fundamental difference between empowering the consumer with information and empowering the government with information. The former enhances an individual’s freedom and choice, the latter limits an individual’s freedom and choice,” he said.

When law enforcement agencies are the customers, a company has an obligation to slow down, Ferguson said.

But Amazon is not slowing down. It says it has a duty to help police, defense and intelligence agencies.

“We believe our customers — including law enforcement agencies and other groups working to keep our communities safe — should have access to the best technology and believe that cloud services can materially benefit society,” Amazon said in a statement.

‘A game changer for law enforcement’

Police often say that they’re not interested in which company sells a piece of technology, as long as the product is affordable and easy to use and helps keep people safe.

That is the philosophy in Chandler, a rapidly growing city outside Phoenix, where authorities noticed an increase in the number of residents who’d outfitted their homes with a new generation of internet-connected video cameras that monitor activity outside their front doors. The Chandler Police Department began looking for ways to make use of that growing network, and came across the Neighbors app.

The app is run by Ring — bought by Amazon for an estimated $1 billion in early 2018 — which uses Neighbors to promote its popular line of doorbell cameras by encouraging members to share videos of suspicious activity. The platform includes a law enforcement portal that allows police departments to post alerts and request video from members who live near where a crime occurred. The portal can tell police agencies if anyone in a particular area recorded a Ring video at the time of a crime.

A man holds up a live video of himself taken by a Ring doorbell camera at the front door of his home.Jessica Hill / AP file

Chandler police got access to the portal by entering into an agreement with Ring in which the company agreed to “seed” the partnership with a donation of 25 cameras to the department. The department gets another free camera for every 20 people who sign up using a particular text code, Assistant Chief Jason Zdilla said. The city has given the free cameras away as door prizes to boost attendance at community meetings, he said.

The agreement — which appears to be a boilerplate document used in partnerships with police agencies around the country — also allows Ring to access the Chandler Police Department’s “incidents/call logs.” Ring obtains that information through the city’s publicly available data portal and uses it to post alerts on Neighbors.

More than 20,000 Chandler residents are now on the Neighbors app, according to Zdilla. Police typically use the videos posted there to investigate property crimes, such as car break-ins and package thefts, but have also used the app to seek evidence of more serious crimes, including a fatal shooting. The department has an officer in each of its precincts assigned to search Neighbors for residents’ posts about potential crimes. But the department has also had to address false perceptions, stoked by the app and the publicity around it, that crime is on the rise.

Most videos obtained by police through Ring are voluntarily provided by homeowners, according to police and Amazon; the company declined to say how many subpoenas or court orders it has received for access to videos.

“This is a game changer for law enforcement because it basically is a virtual block-watch giving us the ability to communicate with a large number of people and the ability to ingest video from cameras in any case,” said Chandler police Cmdr. Edward Upshaw, who manages the department’s partnership with Ring. “It’s more information, more intelligence. We have a better sense of what’s going on in every single neighborhood.”

By embracing law enforcement in this way, Amazon has expanded Ring’s national network, from Fresno, California, to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, from Houston to Norfolk, Virginia. Amazon declined to say how many police agencies have arrangements with Ring, but the nonprofit group Fight for the Future, which advocates against government surveillance, has assembled a map that identifies more than 50 of them.

The strategy fits into Amazon’s aim to improve its home-delivery operations; the use of Ring cameras to catch people stealing packages from the front of homes has become a television news staple. Amazon has also provided materials to police to conduct sting campaigns aimed at luring thieves to snatch Amazon-labeled bait boxes from doorsteps under surveillance by Ring cameras. And the company has filed a patent application for outfitting Ring cameras with facial recognition.

Amazon’s investment in this technology has prompted warnings that it is contributing to the creation of a runaway surveillance state fed by an overblown fear of crime.

“Violent crime is down across the board in America, but the cameras and the links to the Neighbors app have the ability to ramp up fear of invaders or people who don’t belong in particular neighborhoods ─ and that fear could bring harm to people,” said Chris Gilliard, a professor at Macomb Community College near Detroit who studies how the mass collection of data and the use of artificial intelligence to analyze it can lead to discrimination against minorities and the poor. “That equals less safety.”

Zdilla stressed that police agencies have to go through the app and ask Ring for videos. “We are not creating a surveillance state where we have unfettered access to these cameras,” he said. “This is a tool to help us identify the people who are causing harm in a community.”

A constellation of products

Of all Amazon’s forays into law enforcement technology, none has received more attention or notoriety than the face-matching software called Rekognition.

Amazon did not initially market the software as a policing tool when it launched in late 2016. But after the Washington County Sheriff’s Office in Oregon discovered it and began using it to match suspects caught on surveillance footage with mugshot databases, Amazon saw an opportunity.

The company has since pitched Rekognition to other police departments, including a more aggressive use of the technology — identifying people captured on video in real time — in Orlando, Florida, according to the documents obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California. A different cache of documents uncovered by the nonprofit Project on Government Oversight showed that Amazon had also tried to sell Rekognition to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

These experiments and proposals have been met with a broad public backlash and have fueled calls for bans against police use of facial recognition. The Orlando experiment has been abandoned. But Amazon still offers police free training on Rekognition, according to Amazon Web Services CEO Andy Jassy. In November, Amazon had an FBI counterterrorism official speak at a company conference in Las Vegas. The official, Christine Halvorsen, who has since become an AWS account executive, said the FBI was exploring the use of Rekognition to investigate terror attacks and mass shootings.

Rekognition has come to symbolize Amazon’s transformation into a law enforcement contractor. But it is among a constellation of products Amazon Web Services offers government agencies ─ part of a broader vision to corner the immensely lucrative market on bringing the government into the cloud.

Demonstrators hold images of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos during a Halloween-themed protest against Rekognition at Amazon headquarters in Seattle in 2018.Elaine Thompson / AP file

Cloud computing is one of the most revolutionary technological innovations of the past few decades, allowing companies to stop maintaining their own web servers and instead subscribe to a shared network. Amazon foresaw this transformation better than most, and now runs one of the world’s largest cloud networks, providing storage space and support services for thousands of companies, including Netflix, Spotify, Expedia, Airbnb, Pinterest and Comcast, the parent company of NBC News.

Amazon Web Services has a cloud-computing platform specifically for government agencies, which has to meet stringent security standards in order to handle sensitive information. Government agencies are expected to spend $100 billion over the next few years moving to the cloud, according to Ives, the Wedbush Securities analyst. Amazon already hosts sensitive data for the FBI, CIA, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and several states. And Amazon is in the running for a $10 billion “war cloud” contract with the Department of Defense.

The effort includes deals with companies that run on Amazon’s cloud and provide services to government authorities. Among them is Palantir, which sells data analytics to the military, immigration authorities and local police.

Amazon Web Services also provides cloud space, funding, marketing and technical support to smaller companies that sell police tools. One such tool allows officers to instantly share and update crime reports and dispatch records. Another alerts officers to the sound of gunshots. Another tool helps police predict where crime is most likely to occur. Another links footage from body cameras and patrol car cameras, and provides live feeds for commanders at headquarters. Another relays footage from surveillance planes to authorities on the ground.

An Amazon Web Services facility in Herndon, Virginia.Tripplaar Kristoffer / Sipa USA via AP

Amazon Web Services sponsors and is a frequent presence at law enforcement conferences, touting its police services in exhibition halls and on panels; it once sent representatives to an International Association of Chiefs of Police conference dressed as “cloud ninjas.” Ring has run a booth at the group’s conferences, as have many of the smaller companies Amazon Web Services supports, some featuring its logo on their marketing materials.

Animashree Anandkumar, an AI researcher who spent two years developing new products for Amazon Web Services, including Rekognition, said the company isn’t doing enough to consider how law enforcement’s use of its products will affect people’s lives. The company should also do more to allow outside scrutiny from the scientific community, she said.

“Law enforcement, and any other agency, are still getting used to this technology,” Anandkumar, now a professor at the California Institute of Technology, said. “They don’t understand how AI works, and that’s why it’s more important than with traditional technology to think about it and study it carefully. Everybody, including me, who develops these algorithms has a responsibility here to think of the implications, and we cannot shirk that responsibility.”

As a model, she pointed to Axon, the nation’s largest maker of police body cameras. The company created an advisory ethics panel to guide its use of artificial intelligence, and followed the panel’s recommendation to not pair the company’s products with facial recognition software.

New York City officials speak about Shotspotter, a tool that police use to detect gunfire, in 2015.Seth Wenig / AP file

Amazon says it favors increased government regulation of law enforcement and other public agencies’ use of AI, including facial recognition. While some cities have enacted bans against local governments’ use of the technology, no comprehensive federal bills have come close to passing.

“We remain eager for the government to provide this additional clarity and legislation, and will continue to offer our ideas and specific suggestions,” the company said in a statement.

Hearing crimes as they happen

On the evening of April 13, 2018, at the Jefferson County Jail in Birmingham, Alabama, a local gang leader called members of the gang for an update on the group’s activities. Some of them, who apparently lived together, told him their home had been burglarized and that the man who did it was coming back to the scene. One of the subordinates told the leader he was going to kill the man.

The leader stayed on the line, questioning them. About 90 seconds later, several shots rang out. The leader and his associates spoke for a couple more minutes. Then he hung up.

Moments after the call ended, a recording of it was automatically routed through Amazon Web Services software that, using artificial intelligence, interpreted what had been said and spit out a raw transcription. That file was then automatically sent through another piece of software, developed by a Los Angeles-based firm called Leo Technologies, that examined the words ─ including frequent mention of the word “gun”─ and flagged it for follow-up. Within an hour, a Leo Technologies analyst read the file and figured out that the call had captured a murder.

The recording become a key clue for law enforcement, who within days arrested the alleged shooter and an alleged accomplice and seized more than two dozen guns, a stash of drugs and cash. The two suspects are awaiting trial.

“Without that information on the phone call, there’s no guarantee we would have solved the case,” Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office Capt. David Thompson said. “The people who committed this crime may still be at large.”

The tool, built off Amazon Web Services’ speech-to-transcription service, allows Jefferson County authorities to sift through millions of jail calls a year ─ all legally recorded ─ flagging conversations with keywords that may provide indications of trouble. Officials there say it has helped generate evidence in dozens of cases, including drug investigations, homicides, jail corruption and witness intimidation.

Amazon Web Services promoted the tool to an audience of law enforcement officials at an International Association of Chiefs of Police conference in May. Thompson spoke, as did Leo Technologies executives.

The jail call transcription technology could portend further breakthroughs at Amazon Web Services, including “voice biometrics” ─ software that could identify callers by the sound of their voice. Amazon did not respond to a request for comment on any such plans.

Whether authorities are ready for those abilities is another question.

Thompson said he isn’t interested in using technology to automatically identify people the inmates are calling — and the privacy issues it might raise.

“Just like private citizens, I’m concerned about Big Brother,” he said. “And big-time technology.”

The post Amazon is developing high-tech surveillance tools for an eager customer: Americas police appeared first on Gyrlversion.

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weshipyourride · 5 years ago

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USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships Recap

In the high altitude of Winter Park, Colorado, the USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships took place on July 23 - 28, 2019. Extreme sun, occasional rain and a short hail storm would not stop the fierce competition and incredible atmosphere that surrounded this annual event.

BikeFlights.com Brand Ambassador Chloe Woodruff rails the corner in short track in pursuit of a national championship.

BikeFlights.com Brand Ambassador Keegan Swenson salutes the crowd finishing first in the cross country.

USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships are comprised of many off-road events. Disciplines such as enduro, downhill, dual slalom, cross country and short track fill the week while bikers race the clock and other competitors for their chance to wear the coveted stars and stripes in their category for the next year.

BikeFlights.com Brand Ambassador Jerry DuFour of Bear Pro Team celebrates his win in the under-23 cross country race.

Enduro

Enduro, in its most basic definition, is a multi-staged event in which downhill sections are timed and combined for a cumulative finishing result. Uphill sections are not timed, but do have to be completed within a time limit. The racer with the fastest time wins. This year’s championship enduro was comprised of eight stages. The fastest professional woman on the day, and your new National Champion is Amy Morrison of Carson City, Nevada with a scorching time of 30:10.2. In the professional men’s category, Richard Rude Jr took the win with a time of 25:28.6.

BikeFlights.com Brand Ambassador and 2018 Enduro National Champion, Porsha Murdock.

Dual Slalom

Dual slalom is form of racing in which two competitors race head-to-head in an elimination style format on a course that is typically 30 seconds or less and comprised of near-identical lanes which include tight corners and jumps. After an intense battle in the women’s professional category, Jill Kintner took the win. In the professional men’s category, Mitch Ropelato finished first.

Jill Kintner and Kialani Hines blast out of the last turn headed for the finish.

Downhill

Downhill mountain bike racing is a category of mountain biking that typically is performed on steep, timed ‘downhill’ sections of terrain and often features jumps, drops, rock gardens and other features. On a course which racers described as long and requiring a lot of extra pedaling, Jill Kintner added to her jersey count and took the top step in the women’s professional category. In a repeat effort from last year, Neko Mulally showed he is worth of another year in the national jersey by winning the professional men’s field.

Hand in the air for Chris Grice who won the men’s 15/16 junior class downhill.

Short Track

Short track racing typically is held on a shortened cross country loop and contains varying terrain which racers fight for position after a mass-start. The first person to cross the finishing line wins the race. This style of racing is spectator friendly and incredibly competitive. Described as the NASCAR of mountain bike racing, BikeFlights.com Brand Ambassador Chloe Woodruff charged the line in first place after a hard fought battle in the professional women’s field. In the professional men’s class, Christopher Blevins put in a fierce last lap attack to separate himself from his competitors to take the win.

Bradford Perley leads the field through the descent on the short track course.

Cross Country

Cross country racing is held on a varied terrain circuit following a mass start and emphasizes speed, agility and endurance. Typical ‘XC’ races last around 90 minutes, and the winner is the individual who crosses the line first. The professional women’s race had the worst conditions of the week sustaining heavy rain and hail. Despite missing a few of the top level racers, the conditions alone made for a very technical yet fast course. BikeFlights.com Brand Ambassador Chloe Woodruff of the Stan’s Pivot Maxxis Team rode away from her competition and took home the win. In the professional men’s category, also of Stan’s Pivot Maxxis, BikeFlights.com Brand Ambassador Keengan Swenson rode through the line to finish first, after a last lap surge away from his competitors.

BikeFlights.com Brand Ambassador Keegan Swenson attacks through the climb with one lap to go.

BikeFlights.com Ambassadors

BikeFlights.com is proud to support members of the biking community. We are cyclists serving cyclists. Although results to some are only numbers, we are stoked on this year’s mountain bike Ambassadors, who produced some impressive numbers all week long.

Bear Development Team

As quoted from the announcers at nationals, ‘Bear Development Team is the Lakers of the mountain bike racer community. They are a dynasty!’ In true fashion, Bear ‘Devo’ surpassed their dreams and won many national championships and numerous podium spots. A total of seven national championships and a win in the team relay show an impressive story surrounded by family and support. HUGE shout out to an incredible week of racing!

Stan’s Pivot Pro Team p/b Maxxis

It's never happened before and who knows if it will ever happen again, but our Stan's Pivot Pro Team Ambassadors won both the elite men's and the elite women's races thanks to Keegan Swenson and Chloe Woodruff, who also took home the pro women's short track national title. A shout out also goes to Rose Grant, current U.S. Marathon National Champion, who proved she can also go fast on short distances with a bronze medal in the short track. We couldn't be more excited and proud of this team. Impressive racing by all!

Henry Nadell

In a hard fought battle for the win in the under 23 class, Henry took an impressive second place in cross country. Representing CZ Racing, Henry also took sixth place in the short track. A genuine person, and a heck of a racer - we are stoked for his success!

Porsha Murdock

No stranger to the top step, defending national champion Porsha rode a strong race and fought for the win in the enduro ultimately finishing fourth. In a field that is quickly growing in both size and speed, Porsha continues to represent herself and team proudly and anticipates more wins ahead in her bright racing career.

Kyle Trudeau

We continue to enjoy watching Kyle race his way through the ranks. Now racing the in ‘Pro’ class, Kyle proved he is a force to be reckoned with in future championships. Placing in the top 20 in the cross country, we know Kyle’s determination and drive will lead him forward, and we are so excited to see Kyle’s career continue to unfold.

BikeFlights.com Brand Ambassador Kyle Trudeau (CZ Racing).

Getting a bird’s eye view of the rock garden.

BikeFlights.com Brand Ambassador Henry Nadell (CZ Racing).

BikeFlights.com Brand Ambassador Katja Freeburn (Bear Development Team).

BikeFlights.com Brand Ambassador Keegan Swenson of the Stan’s Pivot Pro Team pb Maxxis leading the charge in the men’s pro XC race.

BikeFlights.com Sponsored Team: The under 23 men of the Bear Development Team.

Bear Devo Team’s biggest fan!

We were in good company at the expo with neighbors like Commencal Bikes and the Bear Devo Team.

BikeFlights.com is a proud supporter of USA Cycling.

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sailorrrvenus · 6 years ago

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On the Value of a 365-Day Photography Project

Easter Sunday in Saint Louis was the ideal day for a 365 project. The sky was dialed to maximum blue, and the cirrus and cumulus clouds danced together in celestial harmony, floating lazily above our park’s decked out crabapple, cherry, redbud, dogwood, and other flowering trees.

In a shady glade by a slow-moving stream, wildflowers bloomed, and all through the park couples young and old sat, walked, ran, cycled and drove, not a few on the electric scooters that have become the new favorites of the millennial crowd.

Day 7 – A cooper’s hawk looks for dinner.

Day 26 – A common merganzer lurking near the Muny in Forest Park.

Day 24 – Serpentine wall at the Saint Louis Zoo

Children ran and played with sticks, dogs proudly paraded their people, and around Jefferson Lake, the optimists tossed their state-of-the-art bait into the water and dreamed of catching 10-pound catfish. Turtles warmed themselves under a benevolent sun, tree rats leaped from branch to branch in elm, oak and maple trees decked in the golden green of nature’s new leaves, and the birds soared, swooped and gorged themselves at spring’s bountiful table.

The egrets patrolled the water’s edges, robins, starlings, and sparrows greeted at every opportunity, and the red-winged blackbirds denounced us all as intruders and warned us about trespassing on their property. Hawks circled overhead, looking for neighbors to eat.

Day 45 – The loop trolly by the Missouri History Museum.

In February, however, things were not so idyllic. There were one or two days when the mercury rose into the “habitable” range, but by and large, it was cold and wet, with near-record precipitation turning America’s premier urban park into near swamp conditions. The zoo actually closed one day due to the ubiquity of ice. Puddles deep enough to have their own fish and waterfowl populations proliferated and I wore my muck boots almost every day, in addition to my standard winter gear.

Day 46 – An intrepid soul on his way to work.

Day 55 – Making new friends in Forest Park.

Day 78 – Some old guy and his granddaughter ride the carousel in the zoo.

The short of it is, that a great deal of trouble is involved in spending part of every single day of the year exploring, photographing and writing about one place, particularly if that place is as large and varied as Saint Louis’ Forest Park. At slightly over 2 square miles, Forest Park is 50% larger than New York’s Central Park.

Being situated by one of the great North American migratory routes (the Mississippi Flyway), the park, with its forests, savannas and many water features, attracts a lot of birds and other wildlife. Today I spy a pied-billed grebe in Jefferson Lake, but he spies me as well and disappears under the water’s surface. The grebes join us each spring, along with other migratory waterfowl, expanding our year-round population of mallards, wood ducks, and Canada geese.

Day 80 – National Ride Electric day.

Day 89 – Charles the great horned owl stretches out his neck to call to his mate at the start of his nightly hunt.

Day 101 – Friends sit and talk on one of the benches under a blooming Bradford pear tree by the Visitor Center.

I first came up with the idea for such a 365 day project 11 years ago and decided Forest Park would be a great place to carry it out because it is close to my house (less than one mile), hosts a lot of events (races, festivals, etc), has many wild areas that support a wide variety of wildlife, and contains museums, sporting venues, a municipal theater and one of the world’s best zoos. So I started on December 31st, 2008, walking, cycling and in general exploring the 1,300 or so acres of park.

Day 107 – A great egret strides towards shore with a midday snack.

I walked the perimeter at least once (about 6 miles), and in a serendipitous sort of fashion zig-zagged across the park, wandering almost every square foot of the park, including the golf courses, institutions and interstate highway that cuts across its southern boundary (the highway was closed that year for reconstruction). I crawled under low-hanging trees, I canoed the navigable waterways and I mounted my camera on a 15-foot extendable painters pole to peer into bird’s nests. It was a challenge to my photographic past (shooting weddings, portraits, and events for 20 years) and a great way of connecting with and meeting new people.

Day 109 – An ancient roman lives on in the Saint Louis Art Museum.

Day 111 – Shadowlands.

The project also helped generate publicity, landing me television and radio interviews, an editorial in the late, great Popular Photography, and a front page listing on the BBC web site for 3 days. It also gave me great respect for nature photographers, new knowledge of and appreciation for birds, and a lot of great new friends. One of my friends who followed the project throughout the year told me, “Your photos keep getting better and better.” Yes!

P.S. You can follow this year’s project here. My 2009 Forest Park project is available here.

About the author: Edward Crim, longtime photographer and teacher, is the director of the St. Louis Photo Authority and the primary photo instructor. The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. Prior to devoting himself full time to the STLPA’s mission of building community through photography, Edward devoted over 5 years to developing and teaching photography programs for St. Louis photo institutions. He is also a freelance event and studio photographer for the last 15 years and managed a full-service photo lab for 12 years before that. You can find more of his work on his website. This article was also published here.

source https://petapixel.com/2019/04/30/on-the-value-of-a-365-day-photography-project/

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skiinggray5-blog · 6 years ago

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10 Creepiest Photos Of Victims Taken By Serial Killers

Many serial killers collect twisted and chilling souvenirs, often referred to as “trophies,” from the scenes of their crimes. This can be anything from a lock of their victim’s hair to one of their personal belongings. But what happens when a serial killer likes to document a cold-blooded murder in a photograph? Even worse, what if they wanted to capture their victim on film moments before they died?

For some of the following victims, looking at a camera in the hands of a serial killer would have been one of the last things they ever saw. The images captured of their torment provide a chilling glimpse into the brutal reality of their murders.

10 Robert Ben Rhoades

Serial killer Robert Ben Rhoades stalked the highways of Texas in his mobile torture and death chamber. A hidden compartment in his 18-wheeler truck is where he would end the lives of his victims in the most brutal manner imaginable—a vicious cycle of “kidnap, torture, kill.” He is suspected of killing more than 50 women between 1975 and 1990, although, as he traveled all around the United States using interstate highways, it is believed the real victim count could be even higher. He was only convicted of three murders.

Rhoades would take chilling photographs of his victims before murdering them. When he killed 14-year-old runaway Regina Kay Walters in a barn in Illinois, he captured a chilling moment where she appears to back away from him, clearly frightened. Rhoades’s photos of Walters were also used as evidence that he had held her captive for a long time, based on her hair growth and the bruising on her tiny frame. In 1994, Rhoades was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole. In 2012, he pleaded guilty to the murder of a newlywed couple.[1]

9 Harvey Glatman

Harvey “The Glamour Girl Slayer” Glatman was a truly frightening and twisted serial killer in the late 1950s. Glatman posted Lonely Hearts adverts to lure his victims in addition to prowling modeling agencies in Los Angeles, posing as a photographer before taking women back to his apartment. There, he would tie them up, assault them, and take pictures before they lost their innocent lives—each victim appearing terrified and desperate. After Glatman had killed them, he dumped the bodies in the desert.

Following an attempted attack on a woman who managed to escape, the police were alerted, and the hunt for the killer began. When police managed to catch up with him, Glatman eventually confessed and revealed his “toolbox,” which contained all the chilling photos of the victims. He was executed in 1959 in a gas chamber at San Quentin State Prison.[2]

8 Rodney Alcala

Rodney Alcala was also known as The Dating Game Killer because he appeared as a contestant on a popular dating show during his killing spree. He was described as a “killing machine” by detectives and would strangle his victims, revive them from unconsciousness, and then strangle them again—repeating this twisted process until they were dead.

Alcala was sentenced to death for the murders of five women, although it’s believed the real victim count could be as high as 130. Detectives have uncovered over 1,000 photos belonging to Alcala in a storage locker. Many of the subjects in the photos appeared nude. The less explicit photos have been made public in hopes of identifying the people in them.[3] The photo above is but a single example. In 2016, Acala was charged with the 1977 slaying of a woman identified in one of the photos.

7 William Richard Bradford

William Richard Bradford was sentenced to death in California for the murders of his 15-year-old neighbor and a 21-year-old barmaid. In 1984, Bradford met barmaid Shari Miller in a Los Angeles bar and told her he was a professional photographer who could help build her modeling portfolio. He took her to a remote campsite, where she posed for him. Then he strangled her to death. Bradford then sliced off her tattoos and ditched the body in an alley. He was caught after it was discovered that he was the last person to have seen both of the victims alive.

After 18 years on death row, police discovered 54 photographs of young women that belonged to Bradford, including the photos of Miller, in various modeling poses.[4] They released the photos in hopes that they could identify the other potential victims. The majority of the victims in the photos remain unidentified, but as Bradford spent time in Michigan, Florida, Texas, Oregon, Illinois, Kansas, and Louisiana, the search is still nationwide. In 2008, he died behind bars of natural causes.

6 Robert Berdella

Robert “Bob” Berdella was a serial killer and torturer who documented his sinister slayings in photographs. Between 1984 and 1987, he murdered at least six men in Kansas City, Missouri. After befriending his victims, he kidnapped them and physically tormented them for days and weeks on end. He injected caulk in their ears to deafen them, administered electric shocks to their bodies, and blindfolded them with bags over their heads.

In the photographs he took of his helpless victims, some of them were already dead. The bodies of his victims were then dismembered and either buried in the yard or left in bags for the garbage crew to pick up. Berdella was caught after one of his victims managed to break free from his restraints and jump from a second-floor window wearing nothing more than a dog collar around his neck. Alongside the disturbing images, police also discovered human remains at his home, including two skulls and notebooks on torture.[5]

5 Jerry Brudos

Serial killer and necrophile Jerry Brudos was known as The Lust Killer for his perverse attraction to his victims. He killed them in cold blood and then kept many of their shoes as trophies. Since the age of five years old, he’d had a fetish for women’s shoes, and he received psychotherapy as a teenager after he was caught stealing women’s underwear. Between 1968 and 1969, Brudos murdered four young women and attempted to attack two others in Oregon.

Brudos photographed one of his victims, 19-year-old Karen Sprinker, in his garage just hours before her murder after he kidnapped her from a department store parking lot. He made her pose in clothes he had bought and then strangled her before dumping the body. Sentenced to life behind bars, Brudos never showed any remorse for his crimes—instead, he put the blame on his own mother, claiming she had been abusive all his life.[6]

4 Dean Corll

Twisted serial killer and torturer Dean Corll abducted, assaulted, and killed at least 28 teenage boys and young men from 1970 to 1973 in Houston, Texas. He was given the nickname The Candyman, as he would use free candy to lure his vulnerable victims into a false sense of security. He was assisted by two teenage accomplices named David Owen Brooks and Elmer Wayne Henley, Jr., and his reign of terror came to an end when Henley fatally shot him.

Nearly 40 years later in 2012, a photo which is believed to show a 29th victim was uncovered by a filmmaker. The boy appears scared as looks up at the camera while wearing handcuffs. Filmmaker Josh Vargas said, “While rummaging through pictures [belonging to Corll], this Polaroid falls out. I take a look at it and, right off the bat, having studied the case and the crime scene photos and everything, I see Dean’s toolbox, and I see his implements in that toolbox, and I see this kid right here with handcuffs on his arms.” It is believed that the boy was Corll’s 29th victim.[7]

3 Anatoly Slivko

Soviet serial killer Anatoly Slivko played a disturbing game with his victims in an attempt to recreate his own twisted fantasy. In his early twenties, he witnessed a traffic accident that fatally injured a young boy wearing a Young Pioneers (essentially the Soviet Equivalent to the Boy Scouts) uniform, and this gruesome scene sexually excited him.[8] Two years later, he started running a local children’s club and took advantage of his position in the most sinister way imaginable.

Slivko formed close friendships with the boys—usually aged between 12 and 15 years old—and then lured them to the woods. He would hang the boys from trees, assault them as they were unconscious, and then revive them. He also took photos of the victims as they were asphyxiated. More than 40 boys were molested by Slivko, and he was unable to revive seven of them, leading to their deaths. When police began investigating a boy’s disappearance, several of the children complained they had suffered “temporary amnesia” from the things Slivko did to them. The photos and testimonies were enough to charge Slivko, and he was executed by firing squad in 1989.

2 Jeffrey Dahmer

There are some images you should never search for online. Such is the case for the personal Polaroid collection belonging to serial killer and cannibal Jeffrey Dahmer that was uncovered during his arrest. Milwaukee police officers discovered a man named Tracy Edwards roaming the streets with handcuffs dangling from his wrist. Edwards said a “weird dude” in a nearby apartment had put them on him, and they escorted him to address, which was the home of Dahmer. When an officer went into the bedroom to find the key for the handcuffs, he noticed photographs of dismembered human bodies lying around.[9]

Dahmer was arrested, but that wasn’t the only grisly discovery in his apartment. Investigators uncovered four severed heads, seven skulls, blood drippings collected in a tray, two human hearts, and an entire torso. The chief medical examiner commented, “It was more like dismantling someone’s museum than an actual crime scene.”

1 The Unsolved Polaroid

On September 20, 1988, 19-year-old Tara Calico disappeared near her home in Belen, New Mexico, when she failed to return from her regular bike ride in Valencia County. What was believed to have been a kidnapping soon evolved into a potential serial killer case after a chilling Polaroid was uncovered.

Nine months later, a woman discovered a Polaroid in good condition 2,600 kilometers (1,600 mi) away in Florida. It showed two apparent victims bound with their arms behind their backs and tape over their mouths. The young woman looked identical to Tara, and the boy was believed to be Michael Henley of Milan, New Mexico, who went missing six months before Tara when he was nine years old. Parents of both the victims were convinced it was them. Sadly, in 1990, it was discovered that the boy in the photograph was not Michael, as his remains were uncovered, and his death had been a tragic accident.[10]

The questions surrounding the Polaroid are still unanswered, and one of the most chilling theories online is that this was a photo from a serial killer’s creepy collection. This might very well be one of those cases that will never be solved.

Cheish Merryweather is a true crime fan and an oddities fanatic. Can either be found at house parties telling everyone Charles Manson was only 5’2″ or at home reading true crime magazines. Twitter: @thecheish

Source: http://listverse.com/2018/09/08/10-creepiest-photos-of-victims-taken-by-serial-killers/

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sohailkhatri-blog · 6 years ago

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Wedding Flower and Bridal Flora Arrangements

I recall a beautiful hours of hours of day last spring following it was just barely getting hot sufficient to spend the hours of daylight outside in the yard motion what I esteem to get the most, creating a garden place. I gone to reach something alternating each yard to have a unique see. So I had in the future happening when a unique idea flower wall rental.

The summer since we had hired a tree promote to cut off a beautiful pine tree that was in our belly yard. The tree was gorgeous but it was planted in a spot that was not in harmonious scale for the size of the tree. The pine tree took taking place a 12 foot radius in a small belly yard and it had grown more than 2 stories high, and was planted to oppressive to a become primordial Bradford Pear tree. I might pretension to mention that sophisticated than the appendix 3 years we had highly redone the landscaping and had removed a lot of old shrubs too.

The hours of daylight after the tree was removed my son and I raked the place where the tree had been planted and I granted that I would reforest seeds I had saved from the year to the front. Because of the period of year it was most garden centers had totally small to chose from.This was in July and I planted giant mixed zinnias seeds and contaminated marigolds seeds in the place. Within a week, I had sprouts from the seeds. That was such a beautiful garden I used a characterize of it regarding my wedding invitation. We had a slip wedding in October and the flowers were in bloom long in the in the to the lead and during the wedding.

Now I wanted to have some perennials planted in the melody in view of that it would not be totally bare in the winter season. I had looked at local garden centers and the prices of natural world just seemed costly. I already had a large variety of nature in my yard, due to my be irate very approximately for crop growing. I have landscaping in my stomach, sides and assist yard. I moreover retain seeds from several varieties of annuals and perennials each year.

I decided to make a pardon garden. I had hence much fun shopping from you own resources. Most of my existing landscaping was in its second or third year so some natural world needed dividing. I plus had some natural world were obviously planted to near together, and subsequently than I said past I past to alter things taking place a bit each year. I shopped my entire yard that daylight and not speaking or transplanted 20 swap nature into the look where the pine tree had been. I planted a red Japanese maple, knockout rose - do something much augmented in it's different location! - vinca vine, sedum, lambs ear, rose of sharon, various sports field covers, and more.

I am happy to counsel that out of 20 clear flora and fauna 19 survived and thrived in their accessory location. I accessory more zinnias and marigolds again this period but in a every second pattern. I added sunflowers too. I in addition to accessory several terra cotta pots turned upon their side, upon an angle featuring more annuals. The easily reached garden was enormously beautiful. I did get one item, although it was not a planned portion of the garden. The item I am referring to is a concrete statue of a mule. It is conclusive because our company pronounce is Rented Mule. I aspire to make a sign out of barn wood and enhance it to the mule. I furthermore have lots of pieces of cedar in the landscaping, all loose from a blinking tree we salvaged after a wind storm at my father in statute's on fire.

My husband and I complex substitute natural stone as a announcer and did a very unique design, not just a circle. It is a kidney have an effect on past a circle surrounding it. The back of the kidney shaped wall is raised and in the process of becoming a busy wall. Openings are created within the stone wall to have areas where natural world can trail more than the sides. We meant it and are on fire to circulate how that portion of the project turns out this spring.

We collected the stones for the fasten from a roadside place where rocks slide off the the hillside. We have natural stone borders throughout our landscaping. The stone be neighboring to is beautiful and we got it pardon too. Gathering rock is a lot of hard feint, but gone the amount of landscaping we have it would have been exaggeration to expensive to make a obtain of every of it.

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foulfurywombat-blog · 6 years ago

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Does $20 a month for 100,000 life insurance sound legit?

"Does $20 a month for 100,000 life insurance sound legit?

My neighbor just had an insurance company come out to her house and they took blood from her to test for aids and hepatitis and I don't know what else but she has got insurance with them for a 100,000 dollar policy and she only pays $20 a month. I am interested in getting the same policy but it just kinda sounds really cheap for that amount of coverage. Is there anything I just ask about if I decide to get this insurance?

BEST ANSWER: Try this site where you can compare quotes: : http://freecarinsurance.xyz/index.html?src=tumblr

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""Which company offers the cheapest auto insurance in Snohomish County, WA?""

It's my first time having to get car insurance - I know there are a lot of factors, but I'm just looking for a general answer - not just Geico, Allstate, State Farm, etc..... Thank you :)""

Insurance cost for teens?

What is the average insurance cost for teens?

Need a car with cheap insurance...and ideas?!?

hello im currently doing driving lessons and once passed need to get a car (obviously..lol) we are currently unemployed so only have 100 max to spend monthly on car insurance & petrol (although we shouldn't need to put much petrol in tbh..or could sacrifice some every now and again!) but we need the car to find a job - catch 22! once we have jobs we obvioulsy be able to afford more. wondered if anybody could suggest any cars? we have a 10 month old son so would prefer back doors... thankyou in advance :)

Auto insurance cost for 2007 toyota camry?

How much would insuring my car for just one day cost?

How much would it normally cost? it's a bmw 530i for just one day plz let me know :)

Can you trick car insurance companies?

Lets say I get a 4 door acura integra, the most basic LS kind. It should be pretty cheap on insurance. But if I do a GSR motor swap and mod it heavily(turbo etc..) Is the insurance company actually gonna be investigating into these things? I mean, for all I know I could just say I got it that way.. It's stil technically an integra sedan, a car made to get groceries.""

How can I find out the legality of an auto insurance advertised online?

I''m shopping around for my car insurance online and I don't know how to find out which one is good legally. Please help.

Can anyone tell me how much insurance would be for a 16yr old driving a black 1997 toyota supra?

""Car accident no insurance no driver license, what can I do about it?""

I got into a car accident last week, and it was the other party's fault. however, the guy doesn't have car insurance or a valid driver license. The cops came and did a report, but never made the guy show his license or give him a ticket (according to the report I got from the police). What can I do about the damage that he did? Can I sue him to get the amount? Shouldn't they impound his car and arrest him? It was a huge accident, my car is messed up in the back now. btw, I'm from Northern California""

Why want the Republicans work with the Democrats to get a good health care system in the U.S.?

Is it because the Republicans are behind big business?

""On Car Insurance, do additional drivers have to drive the car?""

Im trying to get quotes for car insurance. Im a new driver and buying my own car myself. By myself the quotes are quite high, around 5000. Ive added my mum as additional driver (im the main driver), that got it down to 3500. But I was wondering, what would happen IF my mum didnt actually end up using the car? She probably would...but I was wondering if it would effect my insurance if she just didnt end up using it?""

How much does it cost to have regular health insurance for 10 employees?

I am starting a pizza shop and i was wanting to know how much is usually cost for normal health insurance. Also if someone can tell me how much it costs for liability insurance for the store. It is going to be a little caesars pizza. Thanks. -AMV

Advicing on insuring my car?

Well, i passed my driving test yesterday yay! I got a car from a friend but i'm having trouble finding somewhere to insure me without having to pay like tons of money. I'm female and age 20 so i don't really know how much my insurance should be or what's a good deal. Anyone give me any insurance companies i could try as a first time driver? Thank you""

Is the insurance company notified when you get a speeding ticket?

I got a speeding ticket for going 55 in a 45 and was just going to pay it so my parents wouldn't find out because I'm on there insurance. I no we are with USAA and i don't want them to find out about the ticket. Will they some how find out?

What is the average cost of health insurance for an infant/family plan?

""How much does fire insurance cost, building damage insurance cost, more on details?

1.) Fire Insurance 2.) Building Damage Insurance 3.) Property Damage Insurance 4.) Any other insurances out there? Please name some for me. The building is 1000 sq. feet with only one floor. How much would insurance cost? HOW MUCH MONEY PER MONTH? Thanks so much!

My daughter had a car wreck with my car causing my insurance to go up.?

My daughter had a car wreck with my car causing my insurance to go up. Technically I didn't cause the insurance, so if I was to switch insurances, will it still show up. It would just be me in the policy now.""

Does $20 a month for 100,000 life insurance sound legit?

Insurance for new baby/family?

I'm newly pregnant - 6weeks. The boyfriend - of 5 yrs - & I were talking yesterday at my prenatal appt & he brought up insurance. The baby's due in early july 2009. He has Blue Cross Blue Shield. I have Aetna. I know that, over here in Virginia, Medicaid is completely free & they will automatically give a pregnant woman insurance thru them. I'm not sure where to go w/ insurance as far as our first baby goes. Do we keep our separate insurances & just add each other & the baby? Do we drop both & get Medicaid? Well, that would only cover me & the baby, I believe. What to do? THANKS!""

Car insurance rates in Ontario for new driver?

I plan to import my '01 Camry from USA to missisuaga. How much shd I expect to pay p.m. in car Insurance rates ? I have 3 yrs clean driving history in USA.Will my driving history in USA help with getting a better rate in canada ? Initially I will have only a US drivers license.Pls help shed light on my doubts ..

Could a 17 year old new driver get insurance for a 1.8-2.0 litre?

Hi... If i was to get a car lets say a 1.8 to a 2.0 litre could i put this car on one of my parents policies and be able to get affordable insurance... My parents have many years no claims discount... Would the insurance firm grant me permission to be insured for a car with a big engine under my parents policy? I was thinking of a VW golf Gti (Mk3) or maybe an old BMW ... Please don't suggest sh!t cars like puntos,saxos nd all those because they are for the boy racers...""

Im 16 and im wondering what is the cheapest insurance for the following cars?

im thinking about getting a used car probably a 2005-2007 scion tc or ford mustang 2005-2006 or a nissan 350z 2003-2007

Does car insurance increase every time you.?

does your car insurance increase every time yu move or change your address. if so is their away you can lower your rates.

About how much would liability insurance be for a lawn care business with 2 workers?

Any idea of what liability insurance would be monthly for a brand new business that mainly mows, weedeats, and blows trimmings/leaves? Only 2 guys working (partners) the yards and one secretary/accountant.""

When can I expect my Insurance premiums to go down?

They have gone up $200 a month since the health care bill passed. Voting for you didn't help my situation last time why should I bother this time?

What's a good medical insurance plan for someone in my situation in CA?

It's so overwhelming with all the different policies out there, if someone has a recommendation for a good insurance company that is affordable for my situation: a. self employed single female b. no health risks/problems c. mid 30s d. prefer a plan that covers maternity just in case""

Will my parent's car insurance go up if I get my drivers license?

Ok I am 17 years old and will turn 18 soon. I have a lerners permit at the moment. My parents have Geico auto insurance and they will not let me get my drivers license because they said their rates would go up as long as I live at home and they can't afford to pay for my insurance. I called geico and they said it would go up,and they asked me what vehicle I would be driving. I told them that I don't have a car, and they said you have to be assigned to a car as a 'part time driver'. But the problem is, I don't need a car right now, I can drive a motorcycle. In the state of florida, motorcycle insurance is not required, but a class e drivers license is required to operate the motorcycle. So if I get my drivers license, why should my parents car insurance go up if I were to drive a motorcycle that does not require insurance at all?""

What's a good auto insurance company that has a good rating?

I have four cars.... no tickets or claims in years.. I have insurance now, but I think I am paying too much. Only one of them is driven on a daily basis..... the others very infrequently.""

My wife is pregnant. Due date: 9/10/09. Our COBRA health insurance expires on 7/18/09. What to do?

Our insurance expires before the due date. NO PROBLEM. We're getting a HIPAA guarantee issue plan. Here's the question: Our insurance expires on the 18th, but HMO's don't start until the 1st of the month. This would leave a 2 week gap where we wouldn't have coverage. We can't start a HIPAA HMO on July 1, because you have to expire all 18months of COBRA before you're eligible for a HIPAA guarantee issue plan. Chances are it'd be ok waiting until 8/1 to begin our new HIPAA plan, but if my wife went into early labor, it would be a very, very bad situation. PPO's start on the 1st, and sometimes the 15th. Same problem. What should we do? We'd prefer to not have a gap in our coverage.""

Can i sue auto insurance company without using a lawyer?

i was rear end by another car and his insurance total my car and paid me the book value of the car. i went to physical therapy for about four months. i took x-rays and mri. the mri shows that i have a dislocation in my lower back. but the insurance company has refused to settle me for my injury. my lawyer told me that i should consult another lawyer to sue the insurance company. some lawyers i met are not interested in the case. can i sue the insurance company myself? if so, how do i begin?""

Homeowners Insurance: What is replacement value for my home?

I'm getting new homeowners policy. What is per square foot to re-build my home in Southern California? Middle-class neighborhood, nothing fancy. Built in 1968.""

Could I get a subsidized health insurance when I retire?

Since the affordable health act will most likely go through, could I get a subsidized insurance when I retire at 60? I will have about 2 million dollars in mostly non-taxed retirement accounts, and some in taxed accounts. If I only have say $35,000 in taxable income when I retire, am I still eligible for the subsidized health insurance as it's determined by taxable income I believe and not how much a person have in retirement accounts?""

Did sombody know how much is car insurance in hawaii state?

how much is auto insurance in hawaii state? medium monthly? for new car?

My car got totalled and my car insurance expired. HELP!!!?

My brother totaled my car and i cant get it fixed because my car insurance expired. Can I wait to get my insurance renewed and get it fixed or just forget about it and get a new car under a new insurance policy?

Do anyone have an idea about how the insurance of 1992 mistubishi expo cost for 19 years old male?

How to get auto insurance quote/ estimate without a car?

I am doing a research, and heard that ur insurance can be based on not just the model but the color of the car. I want to know how to get an estimate based on vehicle, model. So that I can make a diligent choice when purchasing my new car.""

Driving without insurance?

I got pulled over for driving someone else's car in the wrong lane. He had his insurance in the glove box, but all i had was my license. I got my license less than a month ago, but dont have any insurance of my own. i got a ticket for improper lane and have to go to court. Is there a grace period for insurance or am i completely and utterly screwed? I live in Illinois btw""

Help! Will the insurance company pay for my totaled car?

My daughter who is 19 has full coverage on her car which is in the shop being repaired for hail damage. She cannot rent a car because of her age, so she has used my car for about a month. My car has liability only. She was recently in a car accident with my car. Another car caused the accident which caused her to side swipe another car and then she hit a pole. The car that caused the accident sped off. Nobody got the license plate number of that car. Should my insurance pay for my totaled car since her car was in the shop? Luckily no one was hurt.""

Car insurance without a driving license?

I know there are insurance companies in california that sell car insurances without requiring a driving license. does anybody know some of these companies and what is the average price of this kind of insurances? thanks

Why is my car insurance SO expensive?!?

My car insurance is due for renewal and the quotes i'm getting seem so high! Why is this? I'm a 32 year old female, no convictions, bans not even a speeding ticket. I have had my licence for 14 years and over 10 years no claims. I have 3 previous claims, 2 none fault and one theft - all of which were over 10 years ago. I am insuring a 2003 freelander (insurance group 11).""

My insurance co. just cancelled my policy!!! Plz. HELP!!!!?

IVE HAD TICKETS FINALLY THEY SUSPENDED MY LICENSE BUT I TOOK DEFENSIVE DRIVING JUST BEFORE THEY SUSPENDED IT BUT WHEN MY INSURANCE CO. REVIEWED ME IT JUST SHOWS THAT MY LICENSE WAS SUSPENDED NOT THAT IT WAS REINSTATED BECAUSE OF THE POINTS REDUCTION FOR DEF. DRIVING. ANY WAY THEY WANT 3345.07 PER 6/MONTHS PLUS MY HUSBAND 995.00 THATS 4400.00 PER 6 MONTHS!!!! ANY ADVICE HOW TO GET SOME INSURANCE CHEAP!? PLZ HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Insurance????????

We have insurance right now, but my husband was offered a job on friday but has questions before taking it. I have not been to the doctor yet so can I wait to go to the doctor until the new insurance kicks in and it will be covered?""

What is a good company to get affordable E&O insurance?

Does $20 a month for 100,000 life insurance sound legit?

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/cheaper-insurance-steven-garcia/"

0 notes

investmart007 · 6 years ago

Text

ERWIN, N.Y. | New York state trooper, suicidal school principal shot dead

New Post has been published on https://is.gd/SXSREb

ERWIN, N.Y. | New York state trooper, suicidal school principal shot dead

ERWIN, N.Y. — A state trooper responding to a call about a suicidal and possibly armed man barricaded in his home near the Pennsylvania border early Monday was fatally shot along with the man, a school principal, officials said.

Trooper Nicholas Clark was among responders to a 3:30 a.m. 911 call from the estranged wife of Steven Kiley, state police First Deputy Superintendent Chris Fiore said at a news conference attended by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Clark, 29, was fatally shot during the response, and Kiley, 43, was later found dead with a gunshot wound inside the home in Erwin.

Kiley was principal of Bradford Central School, which has 280 students in grades K-12, according to the state Department of Education. A message left at the school was not immediately returned.

Clark, of the hamlet of Troupsburg in Steuben County, was a two-time state wrestling champion and standout football player at Canisteo-Greenwood High School. He spent a year at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro on a wrestling scholarship before transferring to Alfred University, where he played football. He was a two-time All-America honoree and held the school record for career tackles at 377 until 2017.

“He was the toughest kid I ever had an opportunity to coach,” said Alfred head coach Bob Rankl, who has held coaching positions at the school for 20 years. “He was a great player, and he was great leader — a guy that always did things the right way.”

Clark graduated with a degree in environmental studies in December 2011 and tried out for the Buffalo Bills the following May. He was invited as a free agent to the team’s spring minicamp in 2012.

Clark graduated from the New York State Police Academy in 2015 and was assigned to barracks in Ithaca and then Auburn.

“He transferred back here to the Bath barracks in August 2017, where he was very proud to serve the citizens that he called friends and neighbors, to try to give back to the community,” state police Maj. Richard Allen said.

Cuomo, a Democrat, called Clark “a stellar trooper with an extraordinary record.” He ordered flags across the state to be flown at half-staff until Clark’s internment.

The troopers’ union said it would help with arrangements for the funeral and Clark’s family.

“Trooper Clark is a hero who made the ultimate sacrifice in the name of serving and protecting others,” said Thomas H. Mungeer, president of the New York State Troopers Police Benevolent Association.

The shooting, near SUNY Corning Community College, drew a large police presence throughout the morning. A procession of dozens of state police cars with lights flashing followed the coroner’s vehicle on Route 17 carrying the body of the fallen trooper to a hospital in Binghamton.

This marks the second time a New York state trooper was killed responding to a domestic call in just under a year. Trooper Joel Davis was fatally shot July 9, 2017, by an Army soldier as he responded to reports of gunfire at the soldier’s home near Fort Drum. The soldier also killed his wife and wounded another woman before surrendering to troopers.

Davis, 36, had been the first New York trooper fatally shot in the line of duty in 10 years.

By Associated Press

#ERWIN #N.Y #New York state trooper #Pennsylvania border #suicidal school principal shot dead #TodayNews

0 notes

oselatra · 7 years ago

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Farmer vs. farmer

The fight over the herbicide dicamba has cost one man his life and turned neighbor against neighbor in East Arkansas.

At the peak of summer in the little town of Monette in Craighead County, the soybeans and cotton in surrounding fields a jealous green, the pear tree that stands 20 feet from the grave of Mike Wallace looks like it has been blowtorched, every leaf blighted, curled and black at the edges. It's the ugly residue of drifting dicamba, the herbicide for which Wallace literally gave his life.

According to investigators, on Oct. 27, 2016, Wallace, who farmed 5,000 acres of corn, soybeans and cotton near the Arkansas/Missouri border, arranged by phone to meet a farmhand named Allan Curtis Jones, 26, of Arbyrd, Mo., on West County Road 38 north of the Mississippi County town of Leachville to discuss Wallace's suspicions that the farm where Jones worked was the source of drifting dicamba that had damaged some of Wallace's crops. Wallace, who had been vocal in his opposition to the herbicide, had been quoted in an August 2016 story in The Wall Street Journal, telling the newspaper that at least 40 percent of his soybean crop had been damaged by drifting dicamba since June. He'd filed complaints twice with the Arkansas State Plant Board, the state agency that oversees claims of crop damage, about damage from drifting dicamba and had encouraged other farmers to report their damage as well.

When Wallace and Jones met outside of Leachville, Jones brought along his cousin and a gun. According to statements issued by Mississippi County Sheriff Dale Cook at the time of the shooting, Jones told investigators that an argument had ensued. In the midst of it, Wallace, who was not carrying a weapon, grabbed Jones by the arm. At that point, investigators say, Jones pulled away, pulled his pistol, and fired into Wallace's body until the magazine was empty. Wallace, a father of two who'd farmed in Mississippi County since he was a boy, was hit at least four times, and died in the dust on the south shoulder of the county road, with Jones' cousin using his shirt in a futile attempt to stop the bleeding. Jones soon was arrested on a charge of first-degree murder, and later released on $150,000 bond.

Whether the shooting was self-defense or homicide will be up to a jury. Jones is scheduled to go to trial Sept. 11. A spokesman for the Mississippi County Sheriff's Office referred all questions about Wallace's murder to the prosecutor for Mississippi County. The prosecutor handling the case did not return a call seeking comment at press time. Calls to the Blytheville defense attorney representing Jones also went unreturned at press time.

However the case against Jones turns out, Wallace's family has been working since his death to see justice done in another way: by trying to get the use of dicamba banned statewide. A 120-day ban was put in place in early July, the fine for illegal spraying of the herbicide increased 25-fold on Aug. 1, and a task force was established to look for solutions.

But a permanent ban on dicamba would run afoul of the needs of farmers, who are facing a shrinking pool of options in the fight against herbicide-resistant weeds, and of corporate investment in genetically modified, dicamba-tolerant crop technology that is easily worth billions. It's a quest that has put Wallace's family at odds with many of their neighbors and, in some ways, even their own best interests as farmers. But they say it is a fight Mike Wallace would make if he were alive.

On the wind

Developed in 1958 by the German-based chemical company BASF and first used on corn crops in the mid-1960s, dicamba is a plant-hormone-mimicking herbicide that's deadly to a host of weeds and other plants, including many common vegetable crops and species of ornamental flowers and trees, like the Bradford pear that stands near Wallace's grave. While it works like gangbusters against pigweed, which has been a bane of row crop agriculture long before the plant began developing a stubborn genetic resistance to glyphosate-based herbicides like Roundup, cotton and soybean farmers in East Arkansas didn't use it because dicamba is highly lethal to those crops, which have long been the lifeblood of the area. Even a light dose of dicamba on those crops can cause curled leaves, stunted plants and a reduction in yield. A medium-to- heavy misting can kill them outright. That, combined with dicamba being prone to drift if applied improperly and its "volatility" — the tendency to change back to a vapor, lift off of crops and float away to neighboring fields under the right atmospheric conditions — would have made the idea of Arkansas farmers spraying large amounts of dicamba in high summer unthinkable 10 years ago, not to mention illegal. Until this year, spraying dicamba beyond April 15, after vulnerable crops had emerged from the soil, was against the law in Arkansas, with violations carrying up to a $1,000 fine. When it was used, dicamba was mostly employed as a "burn down" herbicide to clear an agricultural slate in preparation for planting, before the plants it might harm had sprouted or leafed out.

But that was then. This is now.

In 2015, the Missouri-based agricultural giant Monsanto released its Xtend brand cottonseed. A year later it put out Xtend soybeans. Both are genetically modified to be tolerant of dicamba. Potentially worth billions, the GMO technology promised to be a new weapon in farmers' ongoing fight against several stubborn weed varieties, including pigweed, resulting in higher yields and incomes. To farmers stretched thin, it must have sounded like a godsend.

The new dicamba-tolerant seeds hit the market quickly, and more cotton and soybean farmers began to plant them. But they could not yet use a legal dicamba-based herbicide on their crops, because one was not available. BASF's Engenia, advertised as being less likely to drift off target, was not approved for use in the state until fall 2016, and another low-volatility dicamba formulation, Monsanto's Xtendimax with Vapor Grip, is still not approved for use in Arkansas.

Early adopters who had purchased dicamba-tolerant seed with the expectation they'd soon be able to spray their fields with reformulated dicamba and watch weeds melt away were disappointed with the progress of getting the lower volatility formulas approved. Whether out of greed, historically tight financial margins or desperation at out-of-control weeds, some farmers became outlaws in 2015 and 2016, spraying older, more drift- and volatility-prone formulas of dicamba on their dicamba-tolerant crops, knowing that even if they got caught, the $1,000 fine amounted to a speeding ticket when compared to the increased profits they stood to reap. In the same August 2016 Wall Street Journal article that featured Wallace speaking out about dicamba damage, an assistant director of enforcement with the Arkansas State Plant Board was quoted as saying she'd been openly told by farmers spraying dicamba in violation of the law: "We'll write you a check." If a farmer has 5,000 acres or more under cultivation, all planted with dicamba-tolerant seed, it's not hard to divide by $1,000 and do the financial math.

With some farmers planting dicamba-tolerant crops in proximity to their neighbors' dicamba-susceptible crops and then spraying the older formulations of dicamba, the result in recent years has been like dropping a bomb on East Arkansas agriculture. According to a report released July 25 by a scientist at the University of Missouri, 17 states have received reports of dicamba-related crop damage since the dicamba-tolerant seeds were introduced, with an estimated 2.5 million acres affected. Arkansas was the hardest hit by far, according to the report, with an estimated 850,000 acres of crops in the state damaged. As of early August, the State Plant Board had received over 840 complaints of suspected dicamba-related issues. Gardens and landscaping, some of it miles away from the nearest dicamba-tolerant fields, were scorched and stunted. In a moment that might be funny if it wasn't so indicative of the chaos that's been sown in East Arkansas, the damage this year included 100 acres of soybeans unexpectedly whacked by drifting dicamba at the University of Arkansas's Northeast Research and Extension Center in Mississippi County. A June press release on the damage noted ironically that the damaged soybean plots, which had to be plowed under and replanted, were to be used in research on dicamba drift and volatility. In another irony that might be shocking if it weren't so sad, members of Mike Wallace's family, who have every reason in the world to hate dicamba and what the controversial herbicide has done to relationships in the close-knit farming communities of Northeast Arkansas, planted a sizable part of their acreage this year in dicamba-tolerant crops, solely in self-defense. Tales of defensive planting of dicamba-tolerant seeds have become common, with a kind of forced monopoly-by-attrition taking hold. According to Monsanto, 18 million acres of dicamba-tolerant soybeans were planted in the U.S. this year, including 1.5 million acres in Arkansas — about half the total estimated soybean crop in the state.

Having approved the use of BASF's Engenia in the fall of 2016 over the objections of the Wallace family, the State Plant Board reversed itself on June 23 and voted to recommend a temporary ban on the "in-crop" use of dicamba-based herbicides, a decision that soon received the approval of Governor Hutchinson. A statement released by Monsanto after the Plant Board's vote said the board didn't allow farmers who had already planted dicamba-tolerant seeds to describe how a ban would affect their operations. "Instead," the statement read, "the Board based its decision on off-target movement claims that are still being investigated and have not been substantiated. ... Arkansas farmers should not be forced to continue to operate at a disadvantage to farmers in other states where bans like the board's current proposed action do not exist."

The issue was referred to a joint meeting of the state House and Senate committees on agriculture, economic development and forestry on July 7. By the time the joint committee meeting started at 9 a.m. that day, the room's large, curved gallery was packed, legislators in suits shoulder to shoulder with farmers in plaid shirts and mesh trucker caps who'd driven through the dawn from East Arkansas to be there. The public comment period was crowded and divided: farmers talking about their extensive dicamba-related crop damage vs. farmers talking about the need for the new technology to help solve their herbicide-resistant weed problems. A representative from a small poultry producer told the committee that his niche business model of selling non-GMO chicken was being threatened by damage to the soybeans his business grows for feed. Weed scientist Dr. Ford Baldwin, who called dicamba the biggest train wreck to ever hit agriculture, told the assembled legislators that the day before the meeting, a farmer in that very room had been involved in a fistfight with another farmer over crop damage. He didn't say whether the farmer in question was for or against the ban.

As it has been at every state-level meeting on dicamba that's been held since October 2016, Wallace's family was there, pushing for a ban. Kerin Hawkins, Wallace's sister, addressed the committee. The month after her brother's death, she and other members of her family had pleaded with the Plant Board to ban dicamba, but BASF's lower-volatility formulation Engenia had been approved with restrictions, including a quarter-mile buffer zone between dicamba spraying and non-dicamba-tolerant crops. Hawkins appeared again in July to ask the joint committee to support the ban. She said that in addition to damage to her family's peanut crops, their 10-acre garden patch inside the city of Leachville, which she said is over a quarter mile from any dicamba spraying, had also been damaged by drift.

After the joint committee voted to recommend the ban, an eight-member subcommittee of the Arkansas Legislative Council officially took no action on the plan, which allowed the 120-day ban on in-crop dicamba use to go into effect on July 11. A $25,000 fine for illegal spraying of the herbicide went into effect last week.

An act of man

State Rep. Joe Jett, a Republican who lives at Success in far Northeast Arkansas, is a retired farmer and looks the part. A supporter of the temporary ban, Jett attended the July 7 meeting and invited Baldwin to speak. Jett said heavy rains in Northeast Arkansas this spring helped keep dicamba damage from being worse this year, simply because farmers couldn't get into the waterlogged fields to spray. "Had it not been for that," Jett said, "I think the atmosphere would have really loaded up with dicamba and you would have seen a lot more widespread damage than what we saw as it was."

Jett said he is in favor of advanced technology to help farmers, including genetically modified seeds, but wouldn't use dicamba himself "in good, clear conscience" given the damage he's seen in Northeast Arkansas. "Knowing that we're going to go out here and hurting people and putting ourselves in front of our neighbors? I can't get my head wrapped around that," he said. "Obviously you're always going to have some folks out there who don't care what's right and who are going to take care of themselves. But I think a lot of it is that the margins are just so tight [in farming], and farmers need every break they can get. They're willing to look the other way and be more worried about themselves surviving than they are about their neighbors surviving. I think that's a lot of it."

Asked whether members of the legislature have discussed a way to financially assist farmers in the state hit by dicamba-related crop loss, Jett said the state is on a tight budget and will be unlikely to help. "I don't know how you could ever get into that," he said. "Farmers have insurance, but [the damage] can't be manmade. It has to be an act of God. To answer your question: No, I think that's probably beyond the state. We don't have the means to help in that regard." Federal crop insurance only covers losses due to drought, flood or natural disasters. The only remedy for those farmers whose incomes were damaged by dicamba may be to sue, and some are doing that. There are at least two civil suits against Monsanto and BASF over dicamba use in Arkansas, one representing farmers who planted non-Xtend crops and suffered losses due to dicamba drift, and another by farmers who planted Xtend seeds expecting to be able to use the lower-volatility formulations of dicamba but can't because of the ban. Both lawsuits are seeking class-action status.

Terry Fuller, a member of the State Plant Board who runs Fuller Seed and Supply in Poplar Grove in Phillips County and farms 3,000 acres near the Indian Bay community, spoke in favor of the ban at the July 7 meeting. While he said farmers in his area appear to be abiding by the dicamba ban for the most part, he believes the reduction in yields to non-dicamba resistant crops caused by damage early in the season could be severe.

"It's going to be dire because we didn't ban it sooner," Fuller said. "It's crazy how much damage we've got, and it's going to be real damage. It's going to amount to millions." Fuller, who told the joint committee in July that he couldn't leave his house in any direction without seeing extensive crop damage caused by dicamba, said he believes the companies behind the dicamba-tolerant seed and low-volatility herbicide are engaging in "a strategy to force everybody to plant" the dicamba-tolerant seed. While the chemical companies have tried to put at least some of the blame for damage in Arkansas this year on misapplication of Engenia, Fuller said he doesn't buy it. "I contend that we've got world-class farmers; the best there are anywhere in the world," he said. "I don't just believe they were applying [Engenia] right, I absolutely, positively know that a lot of it was applied exactly right."

The sad part, Fuller said, is that some of those world-class farmers are the ones getting the black eye. "We're trespassing on our neighbors, and we're trespassing on our neighbors in town," he said. "It's not just our neighbor farmers. There's a lot of damage in yards. You hate to say that and call attention to it, but it is a reality."

Baldwin agrees, and has similar concerns about how the dicamba damage will play to a public already spooked about herbicides. A respected weed scientist who worked for the University of Arkansas for 27 years, Baldwin retired in 2002 and now runs a consulting business, Practical Weed Consultants, with his wife. Baldwin has been something of the Paul Revere of the chaos dicamba-resistant-seed technology could potentially bring to agriculture.

"I said four years ago that dicamba would drive a wedge between farmers, which it has," Baldwin told the Arkansas Times. "You've got 50 percent that wants the technology and 50 percent that doesn't want the technology and don't want the dicamba sprayed on them. And it's going to drive a wedge between agriculture and nonagriculture. I'm not being critical of anybody or slamming anybody. It's just the way it is."

In his testimony before the joint committee in July, Baldwin spoke of his suspicions that even the new, officially less-volatile formulation of dicamba is moving from field to field or even traveling miles away due to volatility and temperature inversions that pull the chemical off sprayed crops and into the air at night. Ford talked of farmers inadvertently "loading the air" with dicamba, which then floated around in the atmosphere like invisible smoke until temperature fluctuations forced it down on farms and yards, decimating crops and ornamental plants almost as if it was sprayed there on purpose.

Baldwin said he never believed he'd see farmers show such disregard for each other as they have since dicamba-tolerant crops were introduced. He called the murder of Wallace "the low point" of his career. "I never dreamed I would see farmers show the insensitivity toward each other in some cases," Baldwin said. "That doesn't apply across the board. But you know some farmers just have the attitude: 'My neighbor knew I was planting Xtend crops, so it's his own fault that I damaged him. He should have planted Xtend crops, too.' Well, hell, he's got a right to plant anything he wants to plant and not have it damaged."

Though the less-volatile forms of dicamba seem like a solution to the drift problems being experienced by farmers, Baldwin said the science of the herbicide seems to show that dicamba's volatility may be a very difficult problem to solve — one he believes the companies have downplayed. "The problem is there's a difference between less volatile and nonvolatile," Baldwin said. "It's my understanding that there were some totally nonvolatile dicambas developed back in the early days of the herbicide. The problem was that the weed-control efficacy declined as the volatility declined. ... That doesn't mean it couldn't be revisited, but the best information we have right now is there is a relationship between volatility and weed control efficacy [in dicamba]."

Baldwin doesn't believe operator error in spraying BASF's less-volatile version of dicamba and scofflaws continuing to spray older, cheaper formulations of the herbicide in violation of the law account for all the damage he saw early in the 2017 growing season.

"If you go east to Crowley's Ridge, every single field that's not a dicamba [tolerant] crop is basically damaged, and has the same level of damage," he said. "A lot of these fields are several miles away from where any dicamba was applied. You can't do that with physical drift. Drift is the blowing of physical spray particles, and you can't blow those as far as a lot of people think before you blow them completely away. Now you can do a lot of damage close to the source, don't get me wrong. But when you go in areas where every field looks exactly the same over a countywide area or multiple county area, common logic tells you that you're getting the same dose rate of a herbicide spread over a vast number of acres. The only way you can do that is to load the air — load stable air masses during temperature inversions and move it that way."

From the beginning, Baldwin said, everybody knew dicamba-tolerant crops had to be an "all or nothing technology," which will have to be planted on 100 percent of acres before damage to nontolerant crops will cease. But even if farmers plant every acre of cotton and soybeans in the state in dicamba-resistant seeds, Baldwin notes, that still doesn't solve the problem of damage to landscaping, trees, ornamental plants, vegetable gardens and other vegetable crops. He believes that aspect will be bad for agriculture as a whole.

"You get into the horticultural crops, then you get into the home gardens and you get into the trees in town," he said. "To me, the more dicamba we put in the air, the more you're going to affect these other types of vegetation. You might solve the soybean issue short term, but you're going to get this thing outside of agriculture. All of a sudden, when peoples' gardens are affected, when the trees in their yards are affected, then they're going to start asking the questions: 'Is this stuff safe for me to eat? Is it safe for me to breathe?'"

The long row

In a house at the edge of a cotton field in Monette, the crops stretching away to the edge of the world in all directions, Karen Wallace talked about the husband she has to go on without. He was born within three miles of the spot, and started his first crop at 17. Married her at 18. Put her through college so she could realize her own dream of being a teacher. Raised two kids and saw them have children of their own. He was, she said, a man always thinking of the community, the kind of guy who would go around town with his own equipment after rare snowfalls and clear the driveways of elderly folks who'd plowed their lives into the soil of Craighead and Mississippi counties.

"He wasn't a farmer that farmed out of the seat of his truck," Karen said. "He was a hands-on farmer. He was in the field daylight until dark. That was just his life." Which is, of course, what makes his death so hard to understand.

Karen said that in 2015, Mike attended one of the first meetings in the area about the introduction of dicamba-resistant seed at Delta Crawfish in Paragould. "At the meeting, Monsanto just kept discussing that they were going to release the seed, though the herbicide had not been approved yet, but kept telling farmers that by growing season it would be," she said. "We didn't plant any dicamba [tolerant] cotton that year, but we had neighbors that did." Wallace estimates they suffered $150,000 worth of crop damage from dicamba that first year. The issues in the area have only accelerated since then.

"I don't think I've ever seen anything like this that has turned farmer against farmer," Mike's sister, Pam Sandusky, said. "They've always been there to help each other do whatever." Karen Wallace agreed that dicamba-tolerant crops have turned the ethics of farming topsy-turvy. "It was like the farmers who turned their neighbors in [for illegal dicamba use], they're the bad guys," Karen said. "It was like, 'You're causing something we really need to be taken away.' It's just crazy to me."

The day her husband was killed, Wallace said, she'd run an errand in Kennett, Mo. The harvest done, he was leveling ground. Though she knows now that Mike had gotten a number for Allan Curtis Jones from an acquaintance, she said he'd never mentioned the name to her or their son, Bradley, and didn't tell either of them he planned to meet outside of Leachville.

"He told me, 'I'll be right back,' " Wallace said, "and that was that. I never talked to him again."

As soon as her husband was killed, everybody seemed to know it immediately. Word got back to her quickly. Not knowing what else to do, she and several family members met at the gin in Monette, which is run by Mike's cousin. She called her sister in Jonesboro, pleading with her to get to her daughter, Kimberly, who was attending an event at Arkansas State University. By the time she did, Kimberly had already heard through a post on Facebook.

"This man is probably going to claim self-defense," Karen said. "Mike is 56 years old. This man was 26. He's 30 years younger than him, probably 50 pounds heavier. He went and got his cousin. Mike never carried a gun. We don't know why he decided to shoot him."

There were over 1,000 people at Mike Wallace's funeral, the line to pay respects stretching out the door of the First Baptist Church and into the parking lot. When he was buried in the little cemetery in Monette, the farmers for miles around brought their tractors, a burbling second line, and ringed the paved lane around the graveyard. "I knew Mike had a lot of friends," Karen said. "But for that many people to pay their respects to Mike was just unbelievable. It was overwhelming."

The death has been hard on the whole family. Kerin Hawkins, another Wallace sister, displayed two photos. One is of their mother, Mary, standing in deep cotton with son Mike two weeks before his death. Another shows Mary, at least 30 pounds lighter, surrounded by family at this year's Fourth of July celebration.

"I didn't even realize it until we took this picture in July," Hawkins said. "I thought, 'We're losing her.'

"They took Mike from us. They took Mike from his family, from his grandchildren. He had a grandchild born this year, his first grandson with the Wallace name. His grandson will never know him."

Still, both Wallace and Hawkins say they joined many of their neighbors and planted dicamba-tolerant crops in self-defense, knowing they might take a hit bad enough to wipe them out if they didn't. "That's what my husband and my sons did this year," Hawkins said. "We've got all dicamba cotton. ... We were afraid of what would happen to us. It wasn't that we necessarily wanted to plant it. It's that we had to."

Mike Wallace was more than a brother to them, Hawkins and Sandusky said. Abandoned by their biological father when he was a teenager, Mike Wallace stepped up, becoming a father figure, protector, counselor and friend. "One of the first things I said to my husband whenever I found out what happened and that Mike was gone, was, 'I feel like an orphan,' " Sandusky said. "I never realized how much I looked to him, because our dad kind of walked out of our lives. I never realized how much I looked to him for answers, for help, for everything. He took over, and I never realized it until we lost him."

Farming has changed since Wallace started, Karen Wallace said, and not for the better. "I think we're in a society where we want the easiest way out," she said. "The easiest way, the fastest way, regardless of who it hurts or what happens. But farming is not like that. Farming is hard work. Mike was willing to put out the work." There's work to be done now, and Wallace is not here to do it, so Sandusky, Hawkins, Karen Wallace and other family members will keep making the long drive to Little Rock any time there's a meeting on dicamba. They want to see the state's temporary ban made permanent.

"We were raised to be there for each other," Hawkins said. "If one person was hurting in the family, you were there for them. You were there to back them up. You always had their back. It didn't matter. He would have done the same for us. He would be there fighting for us, and we're not going to let him down. We cannot let them get away with what they've done and what they've taken from us."

Farmer vs. farmer

#Farmer vs. farmer

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