Hey Sportsfans — it's time for Week 9 of baseball Power Rankings: It may be Tuesday, but still thought about how much we dislike your favorite team 8 Days a Week. Also pool side blackjack is now my favorite part of Las Vegas. John Fisher, please ignore.
Every voter has their own style / system and the only voting instructions are these:

"To an extent determined individually, you must take into account how strong a team is right now and likely to be going forward. You must, to some degree, give weight to the events and games of the previous week."

TRANSPARENCY: This link will show you who voted each team where and has added neat statistics!
New Voter Chance: Are you a fan of the Dodgers? Why? We have a new voter oppening. Please see the info in threa ddetails that will be posted shortly and a link added here. when up.
If something is a little messed up, feel free to pester me let me know.
Total Votes: 28 of 29. So close.

#		Team	Δ	Comment	Record
1		Rays	0	Everyone's favorite myliobatiformes played another good week of baseball with the return of Tyler Glasnow. The Rays took an exciting series against the Dodgers after recharging during a weird mid-series rest day against the Blue Jays. Wander Franco is making his case to be starting SS in the All-Star Game, just make sure you don't accidentally vote for one of his brothers. It's still super weird to watch the offense carry while the bullpen struggles, but with guys coming back it should be f--, wait, Fairbanks is hurt again.	39-17
2		Rangers	+1	Series wins against both the Pirates and Orioles the last week has the club holding the 3rd best overall record in the majors. Go Stars. We're still having fun.	34-19
3		Braves	-1	3-4 last week and we started this week off with a loss against the Oakland "Triple A's" which is not good Bob. On the VERY brightside, we saw Soroka pitch from an MLB mound for the first time in almost 3 years. He pitched well and we need him to perform as we are absolutely depleted by injuries. Riley is starting to come to life. We hold a 4 game lead on the scond place MARLINS. Our division doesn't want to take advantage of our recent struggles, that's fine by me.	32-22
4		Dodgers	+1		33-22
5		Orioles	-1	A few weeks ago, I said if the Orioles can go at least .500 in May then they are for real. They wrapped up a winning month yesterday and have three games to go. They continue to play well, even though they lost the series against the Rangers, and seem to play better away from Camden Yards. They did, however, send Grayson Rodriguez down this week to AAA. He just has some stuff to figure out. He was getting crushed in his past few starts, and it was the right move to make. This solidifies the fact they need a frontline starter if they are going to make a serious push to get to and make noise in the post-season.	34-20
6		Astros	0	Jose Abreu finally hit a home run. All is right with the world. Unless the world's name is Lance McCullers Jr., who had another discomforting setback and we have no idea when we will see him this year. I still blame his hair. Anyway, our other Jose hit a grand slam at MMP this weekend. Where have we heard that before?	31-22
7		Yankees	0	It certainly would’ve been nice to take 2/3 from Baltimore, but it’s very hard to be mad at the Yankees’ month of May. Since May 1, the Yankees are 18-9, a huge turnaround from a .500 April. As we enter the dog days of summer, the top of the AL East is tightening up, but the Yankees don’t face either of the teams ahead of them again until July. The Yankees have to keep playing at this pace, and a Stanton (and maybe Rodon??) return could seriously help that.	33-23
8		D-Backs	+1	The Diamondbacks had a decent week, barely missing out on a sweep of the Phillies before dropping a series to the Red Sox. The offense gets on base but has been allergic to driving in RISP, and the starting rotation continues to be a merry-go-round, as none of the rookie pitchers on the team seem to be able to string together several good starts in a row without getting blown up once or twice.	31-23
9		Blue Jays	+1	The Jays' first series win since May 14th pulled us out of a bad-vibes tailspin the likes of which this fanbase hasn't seen since, well, the last time everybody freaked out over a losing streak. The usual suspects' continued confounding slow starts (Manoah, Kirk, Varsho, etc) have dropped us 10 games back from TB, last place in the best division in baseball. And YET, hope springs. Berrios (3 or fewer ER in 8 of his last 9 starts) finally appears to be pitching to the level expected of him when he was signed, and is pumping out quality starts along with Gausman and Bassitt. Kikuchi has slipped as Kikuchi does but has been very solid for a #5. We don't have the depth to send Manoah down for some needed alone time, but he's pushing it. Vladdy has been scuffling, Springer is heating up, and Bichette is an MVP candidate. With a little bit of lucky regression to the mean with abysmal RISP numbers, this team is just a few turns away from being very good. As long as we don't have to play too many games vs AL East teams. That should be fine.	28-26
10		Twins	-2		28-26
11		Mariners	+4	Just what the doctor ordered - 6-1 in the homestand so far. Some momentum is just what this team needs before two big series with teams they're chasing for playoff spots. If the M's can handle business over the next week, they'll be right back in the thick of it. Bryce Miller, do your thing. Up next: 3 vs. Damn Yankees, 3 @ Globe Life ParkFieldStadiumGardensArenaDomewhatever they're calling it these days	28-26
12		Red Sox	-1	Scoring four runs total while getting swept by the Angels isn't a great look. This team is in many ways aggresively mediocre, always making sure that every win streak is followed up by an equally painful gut-punch. This is mainly due to the reliance on the offense to carry us to victory (2-17 when scoring <=3 runs), when the bats get cold, you're safe to turn off the game. Whitlock returning from injury and Bello/Sale both stepping up their game in May (2.74/2.42 ERA respectively) are good steps towards this team becoming Actually Good™ though. We'll see what June brings us...	28-25
13		Brewers	-1	Taking two of three from the Astros was nice. Barely avoiding a sweep from the Giants was not so sweet. Milwaukee has some issues with hitting in "close" situations. The Brewers either lose after having multiple opportunities to tie it up, or get absolutely blown out.	28-25
14		Angels	0	Did I travel out of state and all the way to Anaheim just to watch the team get swept by the Marlins? Perhaps. Was that objectively worse than what the Reds voter is going through? It's impossible to say.	29-26
15		Mets	-2	The Mets, who I proclaimed to be "good at baseball" last week, ended up dropping 2 of 3 against the Cubs and doing the same against the Rockies. I just don't know what to believe anymore. The only thing I know for sure is that Francisco Alvarez has got that fucking dawg in him, he's GOATed, he's him, he's on fleek, he's poggers, he's a proper legend, he's got an .885 OPS, he's a top bloke, he's got swag, he's fresh, he's Gen Z Mike Piazza, he's lit, he's making me feel old because he was born after 9/11, he's Francisco Alvarez.	27-27
16		Gigantes	+4	The Giants won yesterday, but strictly talking about last week, they went 5- 2 on an extremely acceptable road trip without any off days. Defeating two competent teams like the Twins and Brewers should feel good. On both losses, they gave up 7 runs, on every win they gave up 3, 1, or 0 runs. So, they threw two games out of 7 – that’s allowed. In the bad news department, Joc, Joey, and Thairo all not expected back until June 6th. I think we’re okay with more Bailey Patrick and this also means another look at unpredictable slugger David Villar. Slater continues covering for Joc. Let’s look a the numbers: 13th in MLB in Run Diff (+6 spots), 12th in RS / G (+6), 15th in RA / G (+2), 23rd in Bullpen ERA (+5). All of that is good and especially the bullpen is promising recently. The Giants continue at home vs the Pirates and wrap the homestand with 3 against our orange and black brothers in Baltimore.	28-26
17		Pirates	-1	Would I have been happy to learn on Opening Day that the Pirates would be around .500 at the end of May? Yes. But if you told me they got there after starting 20-8 I would be pretty disappointed. Here's hoping the pendulum swings the other way in June.	26-27
18		Marlins	+3	Yet another appearance of sweepy, the meme that was promised. After a rough series against the rox, we sweep the angels to settle into the third NL wild card spot. Our starting pitching is coming along after a bumpy start to several of our starters. Eury perez is gonna be a stud, just wanna remind yall. Also, shout out to Jorge Soler, who has been crushing baseballs the last week and change. In other miami sports related news, boston is the first city ever to lose two game 7s at home in both the NHL and NBA playoffs in the same year. Go Heat and go Panthers!	28-26
19		Phillies	-2	After losing 2 to the Diamondbacks and going down 5-0 in the 3rd game, the Phillies season looked as bleak as it could in late May while only being 4 games under .500. However, the team rallied and Trea Turner tied it in the 9th before going onto win it in 10. Then, they went down to Atlanta and split a 4 game series. It could've gone far worse. The Phillies most pressing need is now seemingly a 5th starter who isn't a guaranteed loss, as this week they trotted out Dylan Covey, who hadn't started a game since 2019. He got 2 outs and gave up 7 runs. He took the spot of Bailey Falter who, after a surprisingly productive 2022, started the season 0-7. Falter is the far better option, but Dave Dombrowski will likely be looking to upgrade until Andrew Painter can finally return. This week, the NL East road trip continues with their first 3 games against the Mets and 3 in Washington. Here's hoping June Schwarber shows up again this year.	25-28
20		Padres	-1	My Dad tells me it’s ok that the Dad’s lost 2 / 3 to NY; the Dodgers lost 2 / 3 to the Rays! The Pads aren’t in the same stratosphere as the Dodgers right now, though. 5 games under .500, 10th in the NL standings, 3 games out of the last wildcard slot. Of course there’s quite a bit of time to change it, there’s plenty of time to go on a run, or a slow and steady good month to gain ground. With every day that passes however, that goal becomes a bit harder to reach; I don’t think Pads fans were hoping for a wildcard spot by the end of this season, but that’s the position the team has to get to before even thinking of catching LA. The Padres are 4th in the NL West, and only a half game out of last.	24-29
21		Cardinals	-3	2-2 @ CIN; 1-2 @ CLE; 0-1 v KCR; another struggle week for the Cards. The fandom's been a bit kneejerk because of two good weeks before this. Their mistake. I'll say it a third time, the Cards playing at or beyond their expected level doesn't change the rotten FO. Yeah Marmol's pretty close to being fired, that's not a fix when the problem is John Mozeliak.	24-32
22		Tigers	+2	The most fun part of this past week has been watching the resurgence of Akil Baddoo. His energy is infectious and adds an exciting dimension to the lineup. As we head into the last few days of May, Baddoo has sported a .302/.405/.508 slash and a 155 wRC+ this month. Although he's still been hitting mostly in the 6 hole, if this keeps up he might find himself much higher in the order real soon. This week: 2 more vs. TEX and 3 at CWS.	25-27
23		Guardians	0	The Guardians won a series this week. I would like to see them win some games by more than one run, but it's clear this season, we have to take what we get.	24-29
24		Cubs	-2	Another terrible week for the Cubs, as a promising series win against the Mets was followed up by an embarrassing sweep against the Reds. The starting rotation was terrible, and the bullpen was somehow worse. Fans have had enough of David Ross, and Jed Hoyer is starting to come under pressure. Barring a dramatic turnaround, the Cubs will be sellers for the 3rd trade deadline in a row	23-30
25		Reds	+1	Okay guys, I’m here to be calm this week. I have been told by my wife’s attorney, Tom, that they are “aware” of my online activity regarding our impending divorce, so today let’s have a nice, calm, relaxing, perfectly fine, good old fashioned talk about Reds baseball. The Reds are just sorta middling. They’re not great but they’re not horrible. Unlike my marriage. Our starting pitching has resgressed, just like my marriage, and it’s very unfortunate to see, because our bullpen has been quite reliable unlike my wife. We still can’t hit home runs for some reason, but overall unlike my marriage the Reds on the upturn. There, are you happy Tom? I didn’t mention all the crap that’s been going on lately. I didn’t mention how I had to leave the Motel 6 I was at because I found a used needle in the bathroom, and by the way Tom, I know that you’re trying to use that as evidence that I can’t take care of my kids. I don’t even know who’s needle it was, it was like wedged behind the toilet. Believe me, I only found it because I dropped my phone while using the toilet. It wasn’t even visible, I had to like get on my hands and knees and crawl behind the toilet to grab my phone. So it puts the image in my head of some heroin addict or whatever sitting behind a toilet at a Motel 6 trying to get high, which honestly that just seems like an even worse situation than the one i’m in. Do I think it’s a coincidence that the day after I left the Motel 6 because of this, you’re requesting a drug test from me before I can see my kids? Huh Tom? How did you know about this incident Tom? The only people that know are the Motel 6 staff I notified, I don’t think any police showed up, so either you questioned them like i’m some criminal, or you’re following me. I know you’re reading this Tom, you’ve made several references to my posts on the baseball power rankings insinuating it’s me writing them, and yeah Tom you’re right it is me, can everybody in the comments give praise to Tom for being a regular Sherlock Holmes? Yeah everybody come on, Congratulations Tom! You’re the man! I’m gonna let you go home and fuck my sister, oh wait Tom I forgot, YOU ALREADY ARE. When you get home tonight tell Caitlin her brother says hi. Alright, I think I got that out of my system. Anyway, I think once more of our prospects are called up, probably around June or July, we may get hot and finish more closely to .500 than initially thought, and if this division stays like it is, and those prospects can deliver on their promise, it's entirely possible we could be in contention for the division. But a lot of this is gonna depend on if our Starting Rotation can get things back under control. Also we swept the Cubs so lol.	24-29
26		Nationals	-1	Week after week, I expect this Nats team to take a nose dive. I expect them to crumble and slip into a double-digit losing streak but it just isn't happening. They lead the NL in batting average (.267), are third in OBP (.330) and have the lowest strikeout rate in MLB. They still have their own troubles, but this team is alive (4 games out of a WC spot)	23-31
27		Rockies	+1	I don't have time to write a real blurb this week so you don't have to print this. Actually, you probably don't read these, I'm not sure anyone really reads them anyways besides the Reds guy's life breaking down, and this will probably get printed regardless.	24-31
28		White Sox	-1	Liam is back. I can't overstate how great that is to hear. He is one of the best people in the game and it's nothing short of amazing for him to be pitching in May. If you missed it, it was recently revealed that he had stage 4 lymphoma, not an early stage. He started treatment just over 3 months ago! Nothing on the field matters for this team, but at least there's that silver lining.	22-34
29		Royals	0	As of the time that this blurb is being written (Monday at 11:39 AM), only two teams in the majors have a record below .400. Yup, the Royals are there with the A's. I suppose the positive is that the team figured out that they can get rid of useless players in Hunter Dozier, but they still have a lot more work to do.	17-38
30		Atléticos	0	The A's have given up 10+ runs in a game 7 more times than they've won. It's a mix of bad roster building (the bullpen), under-preforming vets (Ramon Laureano 74 wRC+, Tony Kemp 38 wRC+), injuries (Seth Brown and Paul Blackburn are just now returning), and no fans in the stands since 2019. It's soul crushing to watch and the national media's constant condecention toward this particular poor team and it is even more annoying this year.	11-45

Jalen Hood Schifino notably had his struggles with efficiency in his first and only season at Indiana as a 5 star prospect. It is something that has given some folks pause and has seen his draft stock remain static in the 18-25 range. In a draft this competitive and deep it's hard to conclude he should be taken higher, but I think the likelihood he extracts more value than his draft slot is high.
JHS measured in at around 6'5.5 or so in shoes at the combine with a 6'10 wingspan. He has great size for a lead guard and he uses that size efficiently to see over the top of the defense and be able to make a plethora of quite high difficulty and precise passes. He has excellent timing as a passer in the PnR. To be a legit lead guard in the NBA, you have to be able to run an effective PnR; Hood-Schifino is one of the very best lead guards in this class in that department, and he's also a very smooth and comfortable off the dribble shooter in the PnR as well. He also has solid accuracy as a passer and knows how to use screens in a manipulative way to create good looks for himself and his big. He finds cutters, and he can drive and kick effectively. He's a crisp all-around lead guard.
JHS isn't the most dynamic athlete but he's got solid quickness overall. I feel his athleticism has been undersold a bit. His first step is OK---not elite, nor is he a snail. He's good at changing speeds and can drive with both hands. His handle isn't elite but it's absolutely projectable and starting from a decent place. He can snake his way to his spots on the floor even if he doesn't have a tremendous amount of true shake with the ball.
Think continuing to improve his handle would take him to another level as a player as well as improving as a perimeter shooter, where he's streaky. His form isn't broken from 3; some small correctable issues to address, but his midrange abilities and FT number indicates he's not devoid of touch, and I think this is a part of his game that should only continue to get better from here.
When you add his defensive upside, Jalen Hood Schifino is a prospect that checks a ton of boxes, yet seems to get a little less fanfare than most other top 20-25 prospects. I think people are missing the boat on him and judging him a little too harshly on his stats in Indiana rather than taking into account the tools he brings to the table and projectable upside and pretty damn high ceiling he has as a talent. What do you all think about Jalen Hood Schifino?

Figured I’d reach out AskLE as well
A little background on myself:
I am a 21 year old (M) that currently resides in Pennsylvania and am two months away from finishing my Associates Degree. I have made the decision to try and get hired by a Police agency, then enroll in an online Bachelors Degree program and take classes part time. Both my brother and my father are in law enforcement, they tell me quite often how I’d hate my life if I went to either of these departments that I have been looking at. The closest agencies to me would be Pennsylvania State Troopers as well as Baltimore County and City. The benefits for those places are decent but I have no interest in any of those departments, considering I plan to move somewhere that is warm year round. I have always wished to work in a city environment and have been looking into both LAPD and Phoenix PD. I really like the size the department and the size of the areas they patrol. They also provide very good benefits and I watch many of their body cam footage, they seem very well trained. Now I consider myself and Independent/slightly conservative when it comes to politics and hear a lot of bad things about how police are treated in California. I also know that some of these cities have a sort of bruised outlook on the Police. If anyone could provide any advice, opinions, or insight about if it is a good idea or not it would be greatly appreciated. It is hard to get an accurate understanding considering how far away I am from these departments of just how things REALLY are.

https://oaklandside.org/2023/05/30/dont-miss-oakland-budget-meeting/
I think there has been a reported short hand that "no layoffs" in the Mayor's proposed budget is an unabashed good thing, even if it means freezing vacant positions in police department and other divisions.
Is your top priority making sure that no current city employees lose their jobs? Mine isnt. Mine happens to be a fully-staffed police department. But whatever, I guess my question is whether "no layoffs" is always a good thing

Here is a listing of all the media articles, for the past 2 weeks on anything gun related that related to New Jersey:
Note: Articles on the recent PI ruling have been omitted as covered in separate post (Link at bottom)

1. Man Shot By Police After Firing Gun Near NJ Train Station: Mayor Wayne, NJ Patch
2. Prosecutor: 6 NY men posed as police in armed NJ home invasion (nj1015.com)
3. New Jersey police officer who authorities say shot and killed a 911 caller is charged with manslaughter CNN
4. Newark Sees 4th Multiple Shooting In A Month: 4 Shot, 1 Dead Newark, NJ Patch
5. Person With Gun Reported At Great Falls, Juvenile Charged: Paterson PD Wayne, NJ Patch
6. 13-year-old's shooting inspires anti-crime initiative in Newark, New Jersey for summer safety - ABC7 New York (abc7ny.com)
7. Analysis: Three experts explain America's gun politics CNN
8. NJ State Police seize guns from Paterson man and woman (northjersey.com)
9. NJ’s attorney general confronts gun violence, corruption, police reform — and a paradox - Gothamist
10. NJ Teen Charged With Attempted Murder In Shooting Near Carnival East Brunswick, NJ Patch
11. Pa. man charged after accidentally shooting himself at Wildwood Crest motel, police say PhillyVoice
12. Church member arrested in shooting death of Sayreville councilwom (nj1015.com)
13. Student Photo With Firearm Probed, 'No Imminent Danger': Brick PD Brick, NJ Patch
14. NJ road rage gunfire: 7 things to try when you’re this angry (nj1015.com)
15. Pleasantville, NJ, Man Facing Gun Charges After Foot Pursuit (wpgtalkradio.com)
16. DWI Driver Found With Loaded Gun After Crash: Montgomery Police Hillsborough, NJ Patch
17. Three Youths Arrested in Trenton After Bucks Gun Store Heist – NBC10 Philadelphia (nbcphiladelphia.com)
18. Mom says Newark police handcuffed 8-year-old daughter in search for big brother’s gun - nj.com
19. Hero N.J. police officer wrestled ‘ghost gun’ from suspect, saved bystanders - nj.com
20. Ex-Con Wanted In Edgewater Domestic Assault Caught Outside Cliffside Bar With Gun: Police Cliffside Park-Edgewater Daily Voice Serving Cliffside Park, Edgewater, Bogota, Fairview, and Ridgefield
21. Atlantic County Man Sentenced for Possession of Illegal Handgun (rlsmedia.com)
22. Shots fired outside a Paterson school over parking, cops say (nj1015.com)
23. Authorities identify 8-year-old, man killed by gunman in N.J. apartment - nj.com
24. Frackville man charged after gun discharges in Wildwood Crest, New Jersey, wounding him (yahoo.com)
25. Sen. Bob Menendez, Mayor Ras Baraka call for more enforcement of federal gun laws - CBS New York (cbsnews.com)
26. Murphy Announces Intention to Nominate Michael Noriega to Serve on the New Jersey Supreme Court - Insider NJ
27. Eunice Dwumfour murder: Arrest made in shooting death of New Jersey councilwoman - ABC7 New York (abc7ny.com)
28. N.J. attorney convicted of murder in shooting death of his longtime girlfriend - nj.com
29. Joaquin DeJesus, 53, of Atlantic City Sentenced to 8-Year Prison Term For Firearms Offenses - South Jersey Observer
30. AI may be the future of preventing school shootings PIX11
31. Chicago man arrested in NJ DWI with stolen gun from Alabama (wobm.com)
32. NJ Fugitive Joel Martinez Accused of Pistol-Whipping Transgender Woman, Shooting Others – NBC10 Philadelphia (nbcphiladelphia.com)
33. InsiderNJ's Fight of the Week: Platkin v. Bumb (and Guns) - Insider NJ
34. Worker Wrestles Gun From Gas Station Convenience Store Robber On Route 46 Saddle Brook-Elmwood Park Daily Voice Your Local News for Saddle Brook and Elmwood Park, New Jersey
35. Armed robber steals thousands in cash from NJ pharmacy (nj1015.com)
36. SEEKING PUBLIC’S ASSISTANCE: BERGENFIELD, NJ MAN SOUGHT IN ATTEMPTED MURDER INVESTIGATION - Bergen County Prosecutor's Office (bcpo.net)
37. Man charged in N.J. cold case killing was arrested with murder weapon a decade ago, cops say - nj.com
38. Two Atlantic City men arrested with drugs, handgun (pressofatlanticcity.com)
39. Atlantic County Man Sentenced For Handgun Possession Gloucester Daily Voice Your Local News for Gloucester County, New Jersey
40. Brattleboro man gets prison time as felon with a gun again Local News reformer.com
41. Southern District of New York New Jersey Man Charged With Gunpoint Robbery Of Manhattan Electronics Store United States Department of Justice
42. NJ man accused of leading PSP on chase along I-80 (yahoo.com)
43. Camden County Armed-Robbery Suspect Remains At Large: Police Collingswood, NJ Patch
44. District of New Jersey Essex County Man Admits Shooting of Former Federal Informant United States Department of Justice

Note: Articles on the recent PI ruling have been omitted as covered in separate post here:

https://www.reddit.com/NJGuns/comments/13k6wym/media_meltdown_media_coverage_on_judge_bumbs/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
Road Rage Incident - Still no proof / reports he had a PTC:

1. Road rage incident over lane change leads to attempted murder charge for Somerset man (news12.com)
2. Road Rage: Driver Charged with Attempted Murder after Shooting at Car Somerville, NJ News TAPinto
3. Road raging N.J. driver fired 2 shots at car while trying to merge, cops say - nj.com
4. Local Man Charged with Attempted Murder, Accused of Shooting at Car Franklin Township, NJ News TAPinto
5. Fuming NJ man shoots at driver in road rage terror, officials say (nj1015.com)
6. NJ driver charged with attempted murder in road rage attack (audacy.com)
7. NJ man shot at driver’s vehicle during road rage dispute: officials PIX11
8. Somerset NJ man charged with attempted murder in road rage incident (mycentraljersey.com)

​

As I'm sure all are aware, there was a small fire within Momma's Coffee Shop. As a part of the new program of full transparency, here is all the available information at this time about the incident:

• The fire was put out by firemen from the official fire department, with some help from locals.
• Police was present at the scene, and it is, as of now, suspected the fire was caused by faulty wiring, but ill intent has not been discarded.

In behalf of the entire community of Newport, I would like to thank the firemen and local citizens who answered to their duties by extinguishing the fire. I would also like to warn my fellow Newps to let this matter be handled by the competent authorities. Please, do not interfere with the investigation.
- Mayor K. Pollock

When two children in Florida called the cops on Halloween of 1969 about a suspicious black trunk they'd seen unknown men disposing of in an empty lot, the St. Petersburg police had no idea they were about to encounter one of their most difficult cold cases. Upon opening the trunk, the police discovered a recently deceased woman's remains covered in plastic and masking tape. A towel was wrapped around her head, covered in blood. She appeared to be dressed for bed, wearing a green nightgown and hair curlers pinned into place. Medical examiners determined that the woman was likely in her mid-twenties to mid-thirties and likely died as a result of strangulation with a bolo tie in addition to blunt force trauma to her skull. Jane Doe was likely intoxicated at the time of her death and showed no defensive wounds, leading investigators to suspect that her killer was someone known to her. Upon releasing her description to the press, the St. Petersburg police department received hundreds of leads and tips from those who thought they may have known her. The trunk she was found in was delivered to the FBI, though law enforcement declined to release the results of their forensic testing.
None of these leads panned out, and eventually, investigators released a sketch of the woman and her dental records, describing her unique upper partial denture plate. Despite many leads, the case went cold, and without knowing who Jane Doe was, they had no way to find her killer. With the advent of DNA nearly thirty years later, a DNA profile for her was loaded onto CODIS, the national DNA database for the United States, with no matches from her relatives. Finally, in 2022, seeing the success of other jurisdictions with genetic genealogy, law enforcement decided that Jane Doe would be a good candidate for the testing.
Much to their delight, genetic genealogy helped pinpoint a likely identification for the unknown woman found in Florida: Sylvia June Atherton, a forty-one-year-old mother of five from Tucson, Arizona, who disappeared with her young daughters in 1969 after leaving with her husband. A surviving daughter of hers, Syllen, noted that the last time she saw her mother was when her mother and stepfather dropped her off at her biological father's home in Chicago. Her husband, who died in 1999, never reported Sylvia missing and it is currently unknown what happened to her daughters.
--
https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/region-pinellas/st-pete-police-id-trunk-lady-after-53-yearshttps://www.doenetwork.org/cases/661uffl.html

https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/missing-indigenous-alert-chasity-mueller-missing-lakewood/

36-year-old Chasity Mueller was last seen in Lakewood, Colorado on May 3, 2023.
Mueller sent a text message to her family at 12 p.m. She is considered homeless in the Lakewood area.
She is described as an Indigenous female, 5'5" and approximately 170 lbs., with blonde hair and brown eyes.
Mueller may be with a known companion, 34-year-old Vincent “Vinny” Ramirez. He is described as a white male, 5'7" and approximately 145 lbs. with black hair and brown eyes.
Anyone who sees Mueller can call 911 or contact Lakewood Police Department at 303-987-7111.

https://www.denverpost.com/2023/05/23/indigenous-missing-person-alert-cbi/

Chasity Mueller has the words “Stay Away” tattooed on her fingers across both hands and a lip piercing.

This is a follow-up to a related post by u/Bitter-Description-1/ , which reported that a student (jokingly?) offered the tutor an air ticket to visit for sex. No mention of an offer of payment was in the post.
FOR FUTURE REFERENCE:
If a student offers a tutor $ in addition to an air ticket to visit for sex, then the tutor has these possible legal recourses:
1) Post here. Detectives with internet crimes units regularly sweep through Reddit to search for crimes such as soliciting sex for money.
2) Contact your local police department's internet crimes unit so that they can relay the information to their US counterpart.
3) Post here with (or without) a request that a US-based reader of the post reach out to the local police department's internet crimes unit, which then should know how to forward the information to the relevant agency.

I have notice this guy at work and thought he was cute. He always smiles when he saw me and then at one point start saying hello, good morning. One day we started conversion on the funny note it was all friendly. Day after I was at the lunch in cantina and we end up sitting next to each others over the two different table on which point I thought it was silly so I asked him if I can join. I thought he was shy.
I sat down at his table and he bump started integrate me about me like he was police and I was just arrested. And then conversion went on into many more serious topic and I felt like he was weight me up.
After one hour of talk and the fact we work in different department he was surprise that I took year off from my previous job which was interesting and he liked that and he said I am therefore different. My job outside boring company job is very interesting. To most the people. It is just a fact.
So week after I am sitting in cantina alone eating and he come with his friend form his department and invites me to sit down with them. He introduce me to his guy friend and points out my other job outside the company and then bring two other girl from his team join at the table and he introduce me to them. They are lovely and nice girls. One of them work long time in company and always wanted to do the job - my job outside the company. Interesting one.
So the guy I like bring this up and say that now we can be best friend now and start teasing her about she is good at that and that if I have any openings and with laughter and giggle that I should considered. It went on for about few times.
In between conversion was just being casual for all of us.
So girl at point in conversion says that he is very chatty and that she never saw him that hyperactive as today.
And towards the end when he left the table she for no reason to me that he is a nice guy. And asked me how I know him.
I felt strange after I was leaving.
What do you think?
I feel like he doesn't like me and he tried to accommodate this other girl through me.

All hypothetical. Got a missed call on Google Voice, after searching the number it’s a Corporal at a police department in a different state.
The google voice number has been used for things the law definitely wouldn’t like.
Should I start deleting everything or is it too late for me?

Headlines: https://youtu.be/IH5MFOmmZPI
Deadly Shooting / Moody St. Hyrbid Closing / New Candidates / Waltham Pride / Housing Notification Ordinance / Energy-Efficient Building Codes / Proposed Sober House / Lexington Power Plant
Debrief: https://youtu.be/IH5MFOmmZPI
1:00 What to expect from Waltham Pride? (Nick Hammond) 3:10 Speakers at Pride 4:40 Where’s the money come from for Waltham Pride? 6:46 Volunteer at Waltham Pride! 9:25 Waltham Reproductive Justice Paint Event @ Pride! (Amanda Kennedy) 10:45 Sneak Peak at Portrait 13:45 Waltham City Council Passed Pride Resolution - Not Everyone Signed On 16:30 Shoulda Been A Roll Call 21:06 Tenants Rights Ordinance 26:20 Difference Between a Citizen Input Hearing and a Public Hearing 30:00 Sober House Application Goes Awry 33:20 Clips From the Meeting 38:20 Councilor Bradley-MacArthur's Climate Resolution Shot Down 43:00 If The Whole World Doesn’t Agree To Do Something, It’s Not Worth Doing (Councilor Lafauci) 46:25 This Puts Anthony Lafauci To The Right of Oil Industry 50:30 Waltham Should Be Leading, like We Used To
Headlines transcript:
Waltham resident Shelson Jules passed away on Monday 5/22, apparently from a gunshot that occurred about 1:30am near Lyman St. and Faneuil St. According to a gofundme set up to support his family, Shelson was also known as JJ and was a 22 year-old alum of Waltham High School. Waltham Police and the district attorney are investigating the shooting and so far no additional details have been made public.
This weekend is the first weekend a portion of Moody St. is closed to cars this year under the new "hybrid" plan that allows for outdoor dining but with more restrictions than in past years. Moody St. from High St. to Pine St. will be closed to cars Thursday evening through Sunday, as well as some holiday Mondays , from now through September 25. According to a WCAC article, business owners have mixed feelings about the new arrangement but 12 restaurants as well as the Game Underground have applied to use outdoor space.
A few more prospective candidates have pulled papers for this year's Waltham election. They include one more person who's been part of our Channel 781 News team-- Chris Hammer, who has helped us with video production, plans to challenge Councilor Harris in Ward 8. In addition Tammy Wong-Bigelow is the first challenger to pull papers for the School Committee race, Waltham Police Officer Paul Tracey has pulled papers for Ward 3, and elementary principal Stephen Duffy plans to run at-large.
Waltham Pride is happening next Saturday, June 3 on the Waltham Common. This is the third time in Waltham's history that we've had our own Pride event, and the second year on the Common. Some of last year's popular performers will be returning including Missy Steak, Evan Greer, Toast, Katie Gullotti, Rose Bello, and Zumba with Jen, along with a new drag performer Iris Laveau. Speakers will include community members from the middle school, high school, Brandeis, a local Church, and Waltham's recently formed Trans Alliance. That's 11-4 on Saturday and if you'd like to help out, there's still time to sign up as a volunteer. We'll have Nick Hammond and Amanda Kennedy on our debrief show to talk more about th event.
In this week's city council meeting, Councilors Bradley-MacArthur, Paz, and Darcy introduces a resolution recognizing Pride month and calling for a Pride flag to fly on the Common. The council voted to approve that without committee reference.
Also in this week's meeting Councilor Paz re-submitted the housing rights notification ordinance, and the council set a date for a citizen input hearing to take place Wednesday 6/21 at 6:30pm at Government Center. That ordinance was originally proposed by Watch CDC and would require landlords to give tenants in danger of eviction information about their rights. The new version Paz submitted includes language that also protects homeowners in danger of foreclosure.
Also in recent meetings, the city council shot down a proposal to make Waltham's building codes more energy efficient. The state sets standard that require new buildings or renovations to meet a certain level of energy efficiency, but municipalities can choose to adopt "stretch codes" that require a higher standard, which Waltham has done in the past. Councilor Bradley-MacArthur submitted a resolution to adopt the latest stretch codes, which was discussed at the Public Works & Public Safety Committee on 5/15. At that meeting Councilor LaFauci argued that the standards were too difficult to meet and would cost the city money by deterring people from renovating their homes. He said that "fossil fuels are not going away" and argued that it doesn't make sense for Waltham to take steps to address climate change if not all states and countries are doing it. The committee recommended the council file the resolution with prejudice, meaning they will not take action on it and no one can submit a similar resolution for at least a year. In the following meeting the council voted to do just that despite an effort by Councilor Bradley-MacArthur to send it back to committee.
Also at this meeting neighbors showed up to oppose a proposed lodging house on Robbins street that would provide shared bedrooms for about 20 people in recovery from addictions. That was sent to committee and we'll talk about that more on our debrief show.
A proposed solar plant in Lexington near the Cambridge Reservoir and the Waltham line was approved by the Lexington Planning Board on 5/17. The City of Waltham previously went to court to prevent developers from building an access road to the plant through a Waltham neighborhood, but lost. More recently Waltham neighbors organized to pressure the Lexington government not to approve the project. At the recent council meeting Councilor Darcy requested certain city department heads come to the next meeting to discuss.
There's no city council meeting this week but committee meetings will return June 5.

PhD programs in the midwest and south like Indiana University and University of Alabama Birmingham are fully funded, have great match rates, and have large psych departments. Yet, their applicant data shows there are only between roughly 95-150 applicants per cycle. Indiana's program is also ranked #10 in the nation!!!!! Schools in cities on the east coast like Boston, NYC, and Philadelphia have more than triple the amount of applicants. For example, Drexel (Philadelphia) and Fordham (NYC) get 700+ applicants.
Clinical PhD programs are notoriously competitive, and often it can take multiple cycles to get in. Are applicants too selective with location? Is the desirability of the location of the PhD program really that much of a factor in applicant program selection?

I’m currently in the hospital. I was on my way to work today & blacked out due to my heart rate plummeting from severe cramps. When I came back to, I had wrapped my vehicle around a tree. The tree definitely won this battle. Airbags deployed. At the time, I was carrying appendix with the seatbelt over the gun, exactly in the fashion people warn us not to. My gun was between my body and the seatbelt. Glock 19 in a Phlster Enigma. My face hurts and I will definitely have a black eye tomorrow. I have a cut on my eyelid from the steering wheel. I guess the point of this post though, is just to share my experience getting into an accident in this carry position. I have no abdominal bruising or damage, call me lucky. I carry portable Vaultek 2.0 lockbox under my center console just in case. When I came to, I grabbed the lockbox, set it on top of my center console. I then informed the EMT’s outside my drivers window that I had my ccw on me and asked them how they would like me to proceed. I asked if they would prefer I keep it on me, or if I should take it off and put it in the safe. They said I should probably put it in the safe, and they called over one of the police officers on the scene to observe. I opened the case, took my enigma off, and kept the gun pointed down the whole time and put it in the safe. I then locked it and handed it to the officer and got his name (and immediately forgot it, I was pretty out of it). Keep in mind, this whole time my heart rate is at 30 bpm. When I was in the ambulance the officer asked me for the password for the lock box so he could “check it”. I gave him the code, and he couldn’t figure out how to open it. I reached out and put my finger on the finger print reader, and took him he had to unlatch the sides. He thanked me. After that, he gave me a sheet of paper and told me that I could come to the police department after I was dismissed from the hospital to pick it up. I asked him if I could have my wife pick it up for me, he said no, it’s not in her name. Overall, everyone involved has been super cool about my CCW. Keep in mind, this is in San Bernardino County California. I guess once I am dismissed from the hospital, I’ll see what the rest of this experience is like getting my pistol back. Also, I can vouch for the safety features of the Chevy Suburban. Myself and all three of my passengers are alive and well.

All of this is wild speculation:
Martha is the leader of this secret government as 'head of mechanical' to keep the Silo under tight control. She's pulling all of the strings and Bernard, Sims, and others (Gloria / the Dr. that 'takes out' Allison's bc / the judge) execute her plans. No one would ever suspects it because she is never seen outside of her workshop but it's known all she 'really' does is fixes toasters.
I don't think she anticipated Holston going out, because he is their 'big fan of the pact kind of guy and man of the people', or that Jules would wind up as his replacement when they had to get rid of his wife for 'the greater good' and are having to scramble a bit to fix it.
Here's what I'm seeing:
Martha seems to be 'special' has access tech she shouldn't but no one important seems care, she also gets first pick at anything 'primo' from the recycling center.
At some point she confidently says something like "they'd never be able to kick me out."
It could make sense, she lives at the bottom of the silo and doesn't really go out - most probably don't know who she is or venture to the very bottom of the silo. And those that do know think she's just a tinkerer in her little basement workshop.
Martha has picked Jules as her 'shadow', she needed someone smart, that was interested in fixing things, one that thought critically, someone strong willed and very clever.
In a flashback says something like "we need people that will do whatever is necessary for the people of the silo" which is later echoed by Sims before he kills Doug-
It would be also why 'they' can't kill Jules - they just keep trying to get her fired and sent back down so she can eventually take over the silo.
Everyone (Sims, Marnes, Bernard) is really pushing for Billings, a copy of Holston (non questioning letter of the law and big fan of the pact kind of guy) to be sheriff.
They all take turns playing good cop bad cop pressuring the Mayor to pick Billings - hammering in "this has to be done quickly to keep order" but taking jabs at each others departments so it doesn't look like they're working together for a common goal publicly, and quietly behind closed doors "I hate to say this but, he's right."
They're all working towards the same outcome, Jules stays down stairs. (We never hear what Martha says about Jules to Mayor Jahns)
So when that doesn't work (and after the poison cake ruse) Martha poisons the Mayor because she could no longer be controlled, and put the wheels in motion for 'them' to kill Marnes so he doesn't eventually figure out it wasn't the water bottles. And they turn their focus trying to get Jules to refuse the job so 'they' can appoint Billings.
**Sims check on Marns after the Mayors death to make sure he's still "one of them" and they hatch a little plan to let Jules fail so they have a believable excuse to send Jules back down, sims tells him "it's your call" - "we all work for the good of the silo" which is met with a half ass 'right, to the good of the silo' and not long after he's dead. ^{very hypothetical, but that's how I read that conversation - \}*Marnes derailed the plan by giving Holston's recommendation to the mayor because of his feelings, and seems to be having a change of heart / becoming unreliable and knows too much, could eventually connect that it was Martha that poised Jahns.)
As Jules gets older Martha is not outright telling Jules what happened but seems to have knowledge of what caused the rebellion "asking questions turns into demanding answers, and if folks don't like the answers..." and says she should start questioning 'why do we have these rules in place' - pushing her to study the pact so she understand why the rules are important also that she should quit as sheriff, and come back to maintenance. There are not a lot of critical thinkers in the silo, so it's important that whoever is 'running' the place is able to put all the pieces together to form a believable plan.
You've got to be sneaky with a lot misdirection (plans within plans) you we two red herrings for Jules to easily find - and since the people already don't trust judicial finding out someone from judicial is planting evidence and then murdering people to cover it up - not that crazy. And when the judge wants to sweep that under the rug, also not that crazy.
"They" have their patsy, and it doesn't look suspicious if he turns up dead - now nothing can lead back to Martha, they have Billings as the next in line for sheriff.
Now if Jules fucks up very publicly, like at a 'forgiveness holiday' that gets a bit off the rails, the public can say "listen, you solved the murder, almost died, and we appreciate that - butttt..." (like the secretary did) and Billings is promoted to sheriff and the silo returns to the status quo.
And when the people vote for their new mayor it will be the highly recommended by IT, Mechanical, and Judical, a real fan of the pact kinda guy that everyone in the silo adores.
Also - we now have two secret doors.
"Janitorial" - which I can only assume is a security center where they have live feeds everywhere throughout the silo and elevator / maintenance access. I'm guessing they're able to monitor the live feeds / police radios and rapidly deploy to prevent tempers from escalating.
During the tool rental, Sims shows up out of no where and puts an end to the argument over a sledge hammer. Just after that on Martha's radio we hear them asking about ammo and a few seconds later as Jules is walking in we 'level 14 is clear' and she turns off the radio.
Judicial is on 19, the janitor may have been on 20 - and we don't know exactly how long the time frame is, so Sims could have gotten there from his office. But if it really was only a few seconds, that dude has an elevator.
Underwater - Jules has been telling Martha about this and Martha isn't really digging or offering up any additional info - we saw in the blueprints it's at the end of a hallway, but that's kind of all we know.
Just a few of the questions I'm still trying to figure out -
Does Bernard have the "IT door" aka 'admin access' to all of the stored data and able to act as an investigative unit? Like when some heat tape goes missing he can review the footage? Did Martha make that go away?
Is the underwater door the one that will 'forever change' whoever becomes head of mechanical? And is Martha able to drain the water to access it?
How much access do each of the 3 have into each others world?
Are all 3 totally separate as checks and balances to keep one from going rogue?
What secret makes Martha so powerful in this dynamic?
Are the secret doors so dangerous but necessary that only one person should know how to access the Mechanical door?
Is all of this just a test to see if she's 'worthy'?
Is there connection to Jules mother and brother dying - is being 'in charge' required to be a lonely existence and it was engineered that they die to establish the cover story of how Jules ended up in Mechanical and why she never leaves the workshop? "There's nothing up there for me" is an understandable position for someone who has lost everyone they loved. As near as I can tell Sims / Billings / Marnes (until the end) aren't currently in relationships, and Martha's fell apart - and maybe it had to after she took over this position.