Month: July 2016

Cops and Courts

Shooting in Colo. Taco Bell lot leaves one man dead; in Montana, man arrested for threatening Papa John’s delivery man with gun

The latest crime news across the world of 48,000 restaurants*. Updated 8:19 p.m.

Crime scene tapeColorado Springs police are investigating a shooting in a Taco Bell parking lot yesterday afternoon that left one person dead. Initial reports said the incident might have been the result of road rage, but witnesses were still being interviewed by police.

The two parties were in the parking lot of the Taco Bell, one inside of a vehicle and the other outside. The victim outside of the vehicle was shot and later pronounced dead at Memorial Hospital Central, according to The Denver Post.

Papa John’s

In Montana, a 35-year-old Bozeman man with a previous conviction of assault on a peace officer was arrested after holding a pistol to the head of a Papa John’s delivery driver early yesterday morning.

The man, Nickolas Stephen Jennings, was charged with assault with a weapon, a felony and was being held on $15,000 bond, according to KZBK. Jennings was arrested after the driver reported that a man had held a handgun to his head while he was trying to deliver a pizza to an apartment at approximately 3:39 a.m.

In Penn Hills, Pa., a Papa John’s manager told police two men wearing masks, one of them armed with a gun, demanded money from the safe late Friday night.

But the manager couldn’t open the safe, which was on a timer, and subsequently was struck in the face with the firearm, leaving a 2-inch gash under his left eye, then locked in the freezer, according to Penn Hills police Chief Howard Burton. The suspects also stole the manager’s wallet, cellphone, and credit cards, according to Trib Live.

He was treated by medics at the scene, Burton said.

Pizza Hut

In New Orleans, a gunman made off with about $450 in cash after robbing a Pizza Hut early yesterday.

Two employees were taking out trash shortly after 12:30 a.m. when the man entered the restaurant through the back door. Once inside, he ordered employees to empty the cash register, then left out the back door with $450, police said, according to The Times-Picayune.

* Yum has 43,000 KFCs, Pizza Huts and Taco Bells in nearly 140 countries; Papa John’s has 4,900 in 37 countries, and Texas Roadhouse has 485 restaurants in five countries. With that many locations, crimes inevitably will occur — with potentially serious legal consequences for the companies.

The Jennifer Lawrence Diary™
Lawrence and Hoult
Lawrence and Hoult at 2014 Golden Globes ceremony.

“The first time you fall in love, you’re so mental that it’s difficult to recall anything. I think you just grow up and become more aware of yourself and other people and that changes it a little bit.”

— actor Nicholas Hoult, who dated Jennifer Lawrence on and off for three years until 2014, telling “Entertainment Tonight” he’s learned to lower his expectations in his search for a soulmate.

Latest Headlines

Two workers electrocuted at Amazon warehouse in India; Jack Daniel’s steals British whiskey crown; and Papa John’s is very excited about hiring managers in Columbus, Ohio!!!

A news summary focused on 10 big employers; updated 1:50 p.m.

AMAZON: In India southwest of New Delhi, two men repairing electrical connections at an Amazon warehouse were electrocuted and a third was injured Friday night, after their iron ladder came in contact with a high-tension wire. Other workers at the warehouse switched off the main power supplies and rushed the three to a private hospital, where two men were declared dead (Times of India).

In Fall River, Mass., an Amazon distribution center won’t open until Sept. 21, but the online retailer is already reaching out for potential employees making $12.75 to $14.74 an hour; recruiting events are set for Tuesday and Thursday 18 miles away in Providence and East Providence (Herald News).

Jeff Bezos
Bezos

And founder and CEO Jeff Bezos will have a credited cameo role in the upcoming new film, “Star Trek Beyond,” underscoring the old saying that “you can do just about whatever you want when you have an absolutely absurd amount of money” (Amazon Advisor).

BROWN-FORMAN: For the first time, scotch has been toppled as Britain’s best-selling whiskey by an American bourbon: Jack Daniel’s. New data reveals the Brown-Forman brand has usurped The Famous Grouse as the U.K.’s most popular whiskey, after sales of the Tennessee-made spirit surged 9.3% in the last year. That coincided with a 4.4% slump in sales of the six leading blended scotches, with sales of The Famous Grouse alone plunging 14.9% (Telegraph)

TACO BELL: In Alabama, a Lee County woman claims in a Facebook post that her husband and another county sheriff’s deputy dressed in uniform were denied service last night at a Taco Bell Continue reading “Two workers electrocuted at Amazon warehouse in India; Jack Daniel’s steals British whiskey crown; and Papa John’s is very excited about hiring managers in Columbus, Ohio!!!” →

Diversions

At tonight’s Forecastle Festival, the chillwave Georgia man behind ‘Portlandia’s’ dreamy theme music

There are so many things to anticipate at the annual three-day Forecastle music festival starting tomorrow at Waterfront Park, including artisanal corn dogs (they had them last year), and luxury, air-conditioned bathrooms for those who’ve sprung for $400 weekend VIP tickets.

Forecastle logoBut most of all, a performance by Washed Out from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. ET tonight. Recorded by Ernest Greene — that’s him in the photo, top — Washed Out is known to many for “Feel It All Around,” the opening theme for the hit IFC series “Portlandia.” Listen to it in the music player in the sidebar, left, or in the video, below:

Greene, 33, was born in Perry, Ga. His recordings fall within genres that include chillwave, and dreampop, according to Wikipedia. From Forecastle’s bio:

His music has been nothing if not dreamy, but for his second full-length, he’s taken the idea of letting your mind wander to another state a huge leap further. On “Paracosm,” the musician explores the album’s namesake phenomenon, where people create detailed imaginary worlds. The concept has been used to describe fantasy lands like Tolkien’s Middle Earth and C.S. Lewis’ Narnia, and it’s at the heart of the 2004 documentary “In The Realms Of The Unreal,” about outsider artist Henry Darger.

Cops and Courts

A knife and a gun used in separate robberies at Papa John’s and Pizza Hut in Delaware and Texas

The latest crime news across the world of 48,000 restaurants*.

Crime scene tapeIn Delaware, State Police are investigating an armed robbery at a New Castle County Papa John’s Thursday afternoon. Around 4:30, a male suspect entered the restaurant off East Basin Road, armed with a knife and demanding money. Employees turned over an undisclosed amount of money, and the suspect fled. There were no injuries, according to Delaware 105.9.

In Palmview, Texas, a man and a woman are facing aggravated robbery charges for allegedly stealing a money bag from a Pizza Hut at gunpoint on May 1. Jailers booked Jose Refugio Guerra Moreno, 23, of Peñitas and Alondra Torres Reynoso, 19.

The restaurant’s assistant manager told authorities she had finished tallying up money from the cash registers, when a man wearing a ski mask entered the restaurant, armed with a hand gun and demanding money. He then fled on foot, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Nobody was injured during the robbery, according to KGBT. Reynoso, his girlfriend, was arrested for allegedly being his accomplish, says KVEO.

* Yum has 43,000 KFCs, Pizza Huts and Taco Bells in nearly 140 countries; Papa John’s has 4,900 in 37 countries, and Texas Roadhouse has 485 restaurants in five countries. With that many locations, crimes inevitably will occur — with potentially serious legal consequences for the companies.