Iowa Teen Found Guilty of Fatally Shooting 2 Students – The New York Times (nytimes.com)
An Iowa teenager, Preston Walls, has been found guilty of second-degree murder and manslaughter in the shooting deaths of two students at an educational program for at-risk youths. A gang member, Walls, was charged with first-degree murder for both killings. Jurors partially agreed with Walls’s claim that he shot the teenagers because he feared for his life. Walls also shot William Holmes, who founded Starts Right Here, who was found guilty of assault causing serious injury. If convicted of first-degree murder, Walls would have faced a mandatory life sentence but instead faces a maximum sentence of 50 years in prison with the possibility of parole. Walls’s lawyer, Kimberly Graham, expressed her disappointment with the jury’s assessment of the evidence.
MGM Resorts International has reported a cybersecurity issue affecting some of its online systems, causing customer disruptions, particularly in Las Vegas. Cybersecurity experts believe the company is likely the victim of a pervasive cyberattack. The company did not disclose specifics on the disruptions or when the issue began or was detected but said that law enforcement had been notified. In a statement, MGM Resorts said it had taken “prompt action to protect our systems and data, including shutting down certain systems.”In a statement late Monday night, MGM Resorts said that its resorts “continue to deliver the experiences for which MGM is known,” including its dining, entertainment, and gaming options. How many people had been affected by the cybersecurity disruptions was unclear. Associate professor of information systems and cybersecurity at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said a “cybersecurity issue” typically means an individual or a group has attacked the company’s network. MGM is a large company with a vast data set and is, therefore, a target.
I.R.S. Freezes Pandemic-Era Tax Credit Amid Fraud Fears – The New York Times (nytimes.com)
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has frozen the Employee Retention Credit, a pandemic-era employer tax benefit, due to its potential for fraud and costing the federal government billions. The tax credit has been abused by unscrupulous “tax mills,” accounting firms, and other companies that lure taxpayers who are not eligible for refunds to submit applications. The moratorium on new claims highlights the high alarm level within the I.R.S. The program will remain frozen until at least the end of the year. Aggressive marketing campaigns on television, radio, and unsolicited phone calls have triggered the moratorium. Most improper claims are from tax mills that capitalize on commissions for processing the credits. The IRS is designing a new settlement program for taxpayers who received credits they should not have applied for and want to come forward voluntarily.
Danelo Cavalcante, a fugitive who disappeared into the wilderness in 2017 after an arrest warrant was issued concerning a murder in northern Brazil, is now the subject of an escalating manhunt in the Pennsylvania countryside. Cavalcante was convicted and sentenced this August and made his next attempt to get away just days before beginning a life sentence in a Pennsylvania state prison. Police are now searching an area deeper in the Pennsylvania countryside, where he abandoned the van, apparently after it ran out of gas.
Danelo Cavalcante, a fugitive from Brazil, has been found in the rural outskirts of the Brazilian state of Tocantins. After fleeing the crime scene, Cavalcante hid on a ranch less than an hour outside town. The dusty, wild Brazilian savanna provided the perfect cover for Cavalcante, who had moved to the area just over a year before the murder. He struck up a fast, unlikely friendship with a popular figure in town, Mr. Moreira. After the fatal encounter, Cavalcante hid in the region for several weeks before leaving Brazil under a false identity. As the manhunt in Pennsylvania intensifies, residents of the Brazilian town from which he vanished six years ago are also reeling.
Seeing how crime is seen in the newspapers and other media outlets was compelling. While working on this assignment, I noticed a trend in how crime is reported. The types of crimes that are promoted to the masses usually involve violence.
