The Alabama Governor signed legislation on Tuesday, establishing a new shark alert system that warns beachgoers when a shark has bitten someone in the vicinity. The system will issue a public notice to cellphones along the Alabama coast when there’s been a shark attack nearby. The law, named the “Lulu Gribbin Shark Alert System Act,” was inspired by a teenager who was one of three people bitten by a shark during a string of attacks last year. She lost her left hand and a portion of her right leg in the attack.
The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources will create rules for the new alert system. Read on for more news.
Citywide youth curfew in Fayetteville, NC. On Monday, the Fayetteville City Council voted 8-2 in favor of establishing an 11 p.m. youth curfew for minors aged 16 and younger. The curfew, which comes as an effort to combat the rise in juvenile crime, is modeled after a similar ordinance in Charlotte. The penalties for violation are not clear, but there will be a tier system of warnings before parents are penalized. There will also be exemptions for teenagers who work, are coming from school, or are with a parent. The curfew took effect immediately.
Slain Arizona man “speaks” at killer’s sentencing hearing. The family of an Arizona man who was killed in a road rage incident used artificial intelligence to create a video of him reading a victim impact statement during his killer’s sentencing hearing. While use of artificial intelligence within the court system is expanding, this particular use is believed to be the first of its kind. This CBS news story has more about the rendering and reactions to this use of AI.
Ant trafficking. Two Belgian teenagers faced punishment in a Kenyan court after they were found with 5,000 ants. They were given a choice of paying a fine of $7,700 or serving the minimum penalty of 12 months in prison for violating wildlife conservation laws. Authorities said the ants were destined for European and Asian markets in an emerging trend of trafficking lesser-known wildlife species.
Lower hiring age for prison guards. New York legislators approved a measure on Wednesday that would lower the minimum hiring age for prison guards from 21 to 18. The bill establishes some rules for the younger guards, including policies that they cannot obtain or use firearms or transport inmates outside of prisons. They also must be supervised when performing “contact roles” with inmates during the first year-and-a-half on the job. The measure comes as an effort to increase the number of corrections officers during the current shortage.
Raccoon with a meth pipe. After an Ohio woman was arrested during a traffic stop, an officer returned to the vehicle to find a pet raccoon in the driver’s seat with a glass methamphetamine pipe in its mouth. When the officer took the pipe away, the raccoon pulled out another. The incident led officers to further inspect the vehicle, where they found a bulk amount of methamphetamine, crack cocaine, and three used methamphetamine pipes.
The vehicle had initially been pulled over after its registered owner was found to have an active warrant and suspended driver’s license. The woman was charged with three counts of possession of drug paraphernalia, cited for driving under suspension, and could also face additional charges for crack cocaine possession. The raccoon, on the other hand, avoided charges but was placed in a carrier and sent to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to be rehomed.