DOD: Military Sexual Assaults Increase

The number of reported sexual assaults involving military service members increased during the 2012 fiscal year over the previous year. According to the 2012 Annual Report of Sexual Assault in the Military, "there were a total of 3,374 reports of sexual assault involving service members as victims or subjects" in fiscal year 2012, an increase of 182 reports from the fiscal year before, according to a Department of Defense news release. The same information from the DoD can be found here.

While that number may be enough to anger many, it is by no means the worst part. According to a New York Times article, the estimated number is closer to 26,000 assaults, up from 19,000 in 2010. A Tampa Bay Times editorial also states that the "Defense Department estimates that 26,000" service members were sexually assaulted last year, then goes on to state that many "[v]ictims don't come forward out of fear of retribution or because they think the military is unlikely to prosecute under its current system..." (This is also seen in civilian life as well.)

Representative C.W. Bill Young (R-Fla) stated in an email that he found the survey number (26,000) "very disturbing," along with a link to a recent column he had in Friday's edition of the Tampa Bay Times. In his column, Young states, "Clearly the funds we are investing in this program are not helping to solve this deplorable problem. That is why I asked the leadership of the secretary of defense's Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office...to...brief the members of our subcommittee on defense to tell us what is wrong with this program and the military culture and what we can do to fix it."

Meanwhile, a Yahoo News article ("House panel seeks to curb military sexual assaults") states that a House panel plans to "approve a series of revisions to longstanding military law." Once approved, these revisions would "be folded into the Armed Services Committee's broader defense police bill for the 2014 fiscal year." The Senate Armed Services Committee is also working on measures to address sexual assault issues over the next month.

Happiness Is Not Having These Women As Mom

Most of us who lived through our teenage years can remember thinking we had the worst (or meanest) parents. We did what we wanted to do (read: something we were told not to do), and suddenly, we'd find ourselves grounded for the rest of our lives (read: a week, a month, or until next Tuesday afternoon). If our parents were really mean, they'd inform us in front of our friends that we were grounded. How could they be so unfair?

It could have been worse. In honor of Mother's Day, I present to you Florida's Six Worst Moms, according to the New Times Broward-Palm Beach. The wrong colored bike for Christmas when you were 9, or didn't let you have that extra piece of toast? Number one on the list "let her 9-year-old eat some crack on Christmas morning." (At least she called paramedics once the child started convulsing.)

Read about this mom (and the other five) here, while being glad you were only grounded. And if you're able to, you might want to call mom and thank her for not making the list! Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

Kindergardener Helps Raise Money For Cancer Victim

Keilee Winters looks like your typical kindergardener. When she sets up lemonade stands with her friend, Sharon Green, the 5-year-old Port Orange (Fla.) Elementary School student seems like any other child who has done so to earn a little extra spending money. But Keilee is doing this for something other than candy or trinket change: she's doing it to help make a difference in others' lives, according to The Daytona Beach News-Journal.

When Keilee learned that a neighbor knew of a younger child diagnosed with cancer, Keilee jumped into action. She rounded up Sharon and the two set up a lemonade stand in the hopes of raising money for something to help the younger child smile. The lemonade stand brought in $200, which the girls used to buy 2-year-old Mandy a gift that she could take to the hospital with her.

Keilee's mom, Cori, brought her to a toy store to pick up presents for Mandy, then used the rest of the money for a gas card so that Mandy's parents could drive back and forth to be with their child.

Keilee has since sold more lemonade and raised over $500 for a cancer fundraiser.

For The Daytona Beach News-Journal's complete story, click here.

Florida's Unemployment Comp System Biased, Feds Claim

The U.S. Department of Labor has accused Florida's unemployment compensation system of violating the civil rights of unemployed individuals, beginning in 2011. According to the DOL, Florida makes it difficult for the disabled and those who speak Spanish or Creole to file for unemployment benefits, according to an article in The Miami Herald.

Florida ranks the lowest in the percentage of eligible people receiving unemployement benefits. The state stands to lose millions in federal aid if the system is not fixed.

To read more, click here.

Captured!

Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, 19, was captured shortly before 8:45 this evening, bringing a massive manhunt to an end, according to The Boston Globe. The other suspect, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, Dzhokhar's older brother, died during an overnight shootout with police.

The younger Tsarnaev was found in a boat behind a house in Waterford, Mass., a Boston suburb, after being warned that he might be there.

As police and fire vehicles filed out, lights flashing, bull horns blaring, with the suspect in custody, they were cheered by throngs of citizens lining the sides of the street.

CNN reports that immediately after the arrest, Boston police tweeted, "CAPTURED!"

As President Barack Obama addressed the nation this evening, he stated, "They failed, because as Americans, we refused to be terrorized."

Boston Marathon Suspects - One Dead, Second Sought

One of the suspects in Monday's Boston Marathon bombings has been killed, and the second one is being sought in "an intense manhunt" this morning, according to The New York Times. Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, was killed after leading police on what the Times has described as a "wild chase...[following] the fatal shooting of a campus police officer."

A massive manhunt for the second suspect, Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, 19, has "effectively shut down" the city of Watertown, Mass., as a door-to-door search for Tsarnaev is being conducted, according to ABC News.

According to WCVB, the killed police officer was an MIT Police officer. WCVB also reports that the suspect also attacked officers using "grenades, other explosives and gunfire."

At one point, ABC News producer Megan Chuchmach was reporting the news in Watertown. She was stopped by police and forced to the ground so that they could search her camera bag and equipment.

For more details, go to The New York Times, ABC News"> or WCVB.

Heir To Busch Brewing Family Resigns Lifetime NRA Membership

An heir to the Anheuser-Busch fortune has resigned his membership in protest to the NRA after the U.S. Senate voted to defeat background checks for guns. According to the New York Daily News, Adolphus Busch IV, a member of the Busch brewing family and heir to the Anheuser-Busch fortune, "terminated his ([lifetime] membership to the NRA" Thursday, after learning that the U.S. Senate had rejected expanded background checks. The push for expanded background checks was prompted in part by the shootings in Newtown, Connecticut in December, 2012.

According to both the New York Daily News and the Huffington Post, Busch sent "a forceful letter" (NYDaily News) to NRA President David Keene in which he wrote, "I fail to see how the NRA can disregard the overwhelming well of its members who see background checks as reasonable."

According to both articles, the resignation was first reported by KSDK.

The NRA had "vigorously opposed" expanded background checks for those wanting to purchase guns.

Read more at KSDK, the New York Daily News, and the Huffington Post