Family steals $7 million in goods
The Bogdanov family of Illinois has been charged with transporting stolen property across state lines, according to CNN. The family stole more than $7 million in goods for over a decade. Prosecutors said Lela Bogdanov stole the merchandise by stuffing it inside the blue lining of her black dress and walking out of the store. The other family members would then draw the attention of the employees, giving the woman time to escape.
The family would sell the stolen goods on eBay and got more than $4 million from the sales of the stolen goods, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office in Chicago.
If they are convicted, they will face up to 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and restitution.

CA looks to illegalize orca shows
According to USA Today, California State Assemblyman Richard Bloom is proposing a ban of the captivity of orca whales for entertainment at SeaWorld after shocking reveals in the CNN documentary “Blackfish.” According to a release from the assemblyman, the Orca Welfare and Safety Act would eliminate performance-based entertainment and captive breeding. It would also eliminate the export and import of genetic material and import and export of orcas with the ultimate goal of phasing out killer whale captivity in California.
SeaWorld spokesman David Koontz criticized Bloom for associating with “extreme animal rights activists, many of whom regularly campaign against SeaWorld and other accredited marine mammal parks and institutions,” according to USA Today.

Teacher forces child to eat trash
A Canadian school teacher has been “relieved of her duties” after she allegedly forced an 8-year-old girl to eat food from a garbage can, according to Yahoo! News. The teacher worked at École Elémentaire Catholique Sainte-Marie, a French Catholic school, in Ontario, Canada.
The student threw an old banana into a trash can and the teacher forced her to eat it. The mother of the girl, Jordan Stewart, said the teacher told her, “I was only trying to teach her good food values, not to waste food and that you shouldn’t throw food into the garbage.” The mother said it was “the most bizarre, abhorrent thing I could ever think of doing to a child.”
The teacher has already had a disciplinary hearing before the Ontario College of Teachers due to allegations of “professional misconduct” and “incompetence.” The family has pulled their 8-year-old and her younger sister out of the school.

Woman looks for abandoning mom
Katheryn Deprill was abandoned by her mother at a Burger King in Allentown, Pa. 27 years ago. She is now searching for her mother through social media. According to HLNtv, customers found her lying on the ground of the women’s bathroom in 1986. Deprill is now married with three children and has posted a picture of herself with a note saying, “Looking for my birth mother. She gave birth to me September 15, 1986. She abandoned me in a Burger King bathroom only hours old, Allentown, PA. Please help me find her by sharing the post. Maybe she will see this. Thank you.”
Deprill told the Morning Call, a local newspaper,  that she is not angry with her birth mother.
“I would like to say thank you to her, that she did not throw me away,” Deprill said.

Suicide car bomb kills 34
According to CNN, at least 34 people were killed and 121 were wounded after a suicide bomber drove a car packed with explosives in the southern Iraqi city of Hilla on March 9. Two Iraqi journalists who worked at the state-run Iraqiya TV died in the attack. Within the last month, more than 700 Iraqis have been killed and 1,400 others wounded in terrorist attacks, according to the United Nations. Violence has risen within the last couple years, often pitting the Sunnis – a minority in Iraq – against the Shiite Muslims, who came to dominate the government after Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was overthrown in 2003, according to CNN. The UN said 2013 was the deadliest year in Iraq since 2008, with almost 8,000 people killed.

Rikke Bovre
Staff Writer
Published March 12, 2014