PODCAST: New York City apartment fire kills nine children and ten adults (BCNN1 01.10.22)

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According to the Daily Mail, New York City’s worst fire disaster in more than 30 years killed nine children and ten adults, and left dozens more critically injured on Sunday. The five-alarm blaze erupted shortly before 11 am on the third floor of a 19-story building at 333 East 181st Street in the Bronx. ‘Numerous’ fatalities are anticipated, FDNY commissioner Dan Nigro said in a press conference. ‘We didn’t know what to do. We looked out the windows and saw all the dead bodies they were taking with the blankets,’ Cristal Diaz, who lives in the fifth floor of the building, told the New York Post. Diaz’s niece, 13-year-old Alanny, reportedly saw ‘moms fainting at the sight of their kids dying.’ The fire at the Twin Parks North West complex quickly progressed. At the scene, firefighters could be seen pulling desperate victims out of windows. New York City’s new Mayor Eric Adams appeared solemn Sunday as he spoke to reporters outside the Bronx apartment building where at least 19 people were killed in a fire. ‘This is going to be one of the worst fires that we have witnessed during modern times,’ he said.

According to the Daily Mail, Kristal Bayron-Nieves, 19, was working as a cashier at the Burger King at 116th Street and Lexington Avenue in East Harlem early Sunday morning when an armed robber entered the restaurant at around 1 am. The gunman pistol-whipped a male customer before punching a female manager in the face. Bayron-Nieves, who just started the job three weeks ago, gave the robber $100 cash from the drawer, an eyewitness said, according to her mother. The criminal turned to leave, but turned around again and shot Bayron-Nieves in the torso, according to the New York Post. The teen was transported to nearby Metropolitan Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Bob Saget Has Died Suddenly in a Hotel Room. According to All Accounts, He Was Doing Fine. In Fact, He Was on a Cross-country Tour in Florida. Daniel Whyte III Says People, Obviously You Can Die at Any Time and You Don’t Know When, Therefore You Need to Be Ready. Get Your House in Order and Prepare to Meet Your God. And God Wants Me to Tell You That if He Will Allow You to Die From This Beautiful Ball Called Earth, He Will Allow You to Go to Hell if You Do Not Believe on His Son the Lord Jesus Christ, So Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and You Will Be Saved, for Jesus Christ Said the Most Important Words in the History of the World to Mankind in John 3:16, Which Says, “For God So Loved the World, That He Gave His Only Begotten Son, That Whosoever Believeth In Him Should Not Perish, But Have Everlasting Life.” So Trust in Him Today. Here’s a Tip: Many People Have Strangely Died in Hotel Rooms. I Am Convinced That With All the Sinful Demonic Activity That Goes on in Hotel Rooms, Demons Reside in Hotel Rooms, So Be Careful About Staying in Hotels — That’s Free! According to the Daily Mail, Seven years ago, Bob Saget, who went from being a respected stand-up comedian to a successful star of “Full House”, has reportedly died at age 65. Sources close to the comic say he died Sunday at the Ritz-Carlton in Orlando, Florida, TMZ reports. Employees of the hotel reportedly found Saget in his room around 4 p.m., and Sheriff’s deputies and and the fire department arrived soon after. Few details are currently available about the circumstances leading up to Saget’s death, though sources say that he was pronounced dead in his hotel room. Police say there were no obvious signs of foul play or drug use, but a toxicology report is yet to be carried out. The comedian’s unexpected death comes amid his cross-country stand-up tour, which kicked off back in September 2021. He had recently played a string of dates in Florida, including a show in Orlando. He was found hours after posting jubilantly about returning to the stage, and how he was loving being back in the limelight after a show at the Ponte Vedra Concert Hall in Jacksonville on Saturday night. ‘Okay, I loved tonight’s show in Jacksonville. Really nice audience. Lots of positivity. Happened last night in Orlando last night at the Hard Rock Live too. Very appreciative and fun audiences. Thanks again to @comediantimwilkins for opening. I had no idea I did a two hour set tonight. I’m back in comedy like I was when I was 26. I guess I’m finding my new voice and loving every moment of it.’

According to Reuters, COVID-19 hospitalizations in the United States reached a record high on Monday, according to a Reuters tally, as a surge in infections caused by the highly contagious Omicron variant strains health systems in several states. There were 132,646 people hospitalized with COVID, surpassing the record of 132,051 set in January last year. Hospitalizations have increased steadily since late December, doubling in the last three weeks, as Omicron quickly overtook Delta as the dominant version of the virus in the United States. Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Vermont, Virginia, Washington D.C., and Wisconsin have reported record levels of hospitalized COVID-19 patients recently, according to the Reuters analysis. While potentially less severe, health officials have warned that the sheer number of infections caused by the Omicron variant could strain the hospital systems, some of which have already suspended elective procedures as they struggle to handle the surge of patients amid staff shortages. The seven-day average for new cases has doubled in the last 10 days to 704,000. The United States has averaged over a half a million cases for the last six consecutive days, according to a Reuters tally.

According to Faith for Black Lives, Faith for Black Lives, a coalition of faith leaders from across the country, will begin a hunger strike for voting rights on the first anniversary of the insurrection, January 6, 2022 to urge Congress to pass voting rights legislation by Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on January 17, 2022. Across the country, voting rights are being threatened as 19 states passed 34 laws impacting the right to vote, specifically targeting communities of color. States enacted laws to reduce early voting, restrict access to absentee ballots, and seize control of non-partisan election administration official functions. In addition, extreme partisan gerrymandering threatens access to Black political representation in state and federal elections for the next decade. “As faith leaders, we are called to speak truth to power and to raise the conscience of this nation through moral resistance”, said Rev. Stephen A. Green, Chair of Faith for Black Lives. “This moment requires sacrifice and a deep commitment to radical love in action in order to redeem the soul of this nation and protect our democracy. Through this hunger strike we hope to press upon the United States Senate the moral imperative of this moment.”

According to CBS DFW, A former minister of a Wylie church was arrested on Friday, Jan 7 on a charge of sexually assaulting a child after accusations surfaced last month. On Dec 12, 2021, a staff member of the First Baptist Church of Wylie contacted the Collin County Sheriff’s Office to report another staff member for alleged sexual assault. During their investigation, the Sheriff’s Office investigators identified a 15-year-old girl who disclosed that she had been inappropriately touched by First Baptist Church of Wylie Junior High Minister Timothy Wells. Wells had been an employee of the church since January 2019. He was immediately placed on leave and his employment was later terminated. Sheriff’s Office investigators obtained a warrant for Timothy Wells’ arrest, charging him with indecency with a child by sexual contact, a second-degree felony. Wells turned himself into the Collin County Detention Facility where he was booked and is being held in lieu of a $25,000 bond. Sheriff’s Office investigators are asking for anyone with information regarding this investigation or other possible offenses involving Timothy Wells to contact the Collin County Sheriff’s Office at 972-547-5350.

According to the Daily Mail, An extreme cold front is ravaging through the eastern coast in the US and is expected to bring up to -45 degree weather and two to three feet of snow to Buffalo and the northeast on Tuesday. About ten million people were already under wind chill advisories in the Midwest on Sunday, where wind chills plummeted to -25 to -45 degrees on Monday. By Tuesday, the National Weather Service predicts interior parts of the area could affect around 15 million people. The bitter cold is expected to be present in the North Central states on Monday too, with temperatures in Chicago expected to remain in the mid-teens, according to AccuWeather .The Windy City usually has temperatures right around the freezing mark at this time of the year.

You can read these stories and more at BlackChristianNews.com .

In closing, remember, God loves you. He always has and He always will. John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” If you don’t know Jesus as your Saviour, today is a good day to get to know Him. Just believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died, was buried, and rose from the dead for you. Pray and ask Him to come into your heart and He will. Romans 10:13 says, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Thanks so much for listening and may God bless your day!