By Staff Writers Stephanie Dutra & Hana Sheikh
Local — Body found in Alameda Creek
A body was discovered in Alameda Creek on February 23 by a person walking their dogs near Coyote Hills. The body was identified the next day by The Alameda County Coroner’s Office as 18-year-old Jayda Jenkins from Tracy, who had been missing for over a month. Jenkins’s car went into the creek after an accident along Niles Canyon Road on January 21. Authorities recovered the car from the creek but Jenkins was not inside. Over 100 rescue workers, eight cadaver dogs, and helicopters searched for her body along the creek on January 28. Sergeant Ray Kelley from the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department said, “Jayda was located in an area eleven miles from the original point of entry where her car went into the creek.”
National – Indian immigrants shot in possible hate crime
Two Indian immigrants in Olathe, Kansas were shot at in a bar due to a possible hate crime on February 22. The two victims, Srinivas Kuchibhotla and Alok Madasani, were questioned by alleged perpetrator Adam Purinton about their legal status. He called them racial slurs and later started shooting at them. Kuchibhotla was shot, and later died in a hospital due to his major injuries. Madasani sustained minor injuries, was taken to a hospital, and released the next day. Purinton was charged with attempted premeditated first-degree murder and premeditated first-degree murder. Authorities are currently investigating whether the attack was a hate crime.
International — The fight for Mosul expands westward
Iraqi government forces are expanding the fight against ISIS for Mosul into the western half of the city, forcing almost 2,400 Iraqis to flee Mosul in less than 24 hours. The Iraqis who fled have been sheltering in Al-Jada’a refugee camp and the Al-Qayyarah airport south of Mosul. Although the fighting to take Mosul began in October 2016, the military operation to expand into western Mosul was launched on February 19, and the total number of refugees since the expansion into the western half has nearly reached 4,000.
Quirky — Witches cast mass spell against Trump
A group of witches in the US cast a mass spell against President Donald J. Trump at midnight on Friday, February 24. The event was organized via a Facebook page which garnered over 10,500 likes but was later taken down. According to Paranormal Writer Michael Hughes, the spell is considered neither a hex nor a curse; rather, it is reported as a binding spell that will not cause harm to Trump and will instead prevent Trump from causing harm to others. Hughes said that the spell, which required witches to carve the president’s name into a candle while reciting an enchantment and burning his picture, will be repeated by the group on the day of every waning crescent moon.
Photos by eastbaytimes.com, npr.org, nyt.com, yahoo.com
