Marietta

Students at an Illinois high school are satisfying their hunger throughout the school day with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. >> Read more trending news  The counseling department of Eisenhower High School in Decatur has placed jars of peanut butter and jelly, along with bread and sandwich bags, on tables in school hallways, for students to make snacks, the Herald & Review of Decatur reported. The school already offers breakfast and lunch to students, but the snacks will be supplementary. Amanda Duckworth, a counselor at the high school, told the newspaper she got the idea from a cousin in Arizona who works as a school counselor. The sandwiches were set up in the guidance office in Arizona because they had plenty of space, she said. “A relative shared they were in need of peanut butter and jelly,” Duckworth told the Herald and Review. “Their school is 2,000 kids and it’s really popular. We don’t have that much space, so ours is outside the door. Students are always asking for a snack, so we thought we would try it.” Warnings will be posted for students who have allergies to peanuts, Duckworth said. Those students will be directed to the school office, where they can make jelly sandwiches. Teachers are hoping to keep the sandwich stations open throughout the rest of the school year, WCIA reported. So far, the plan is working. “We don’t normally bring snacks to school so this just helped get through the day,” junior Kerrigan Boyn told WCIA. Duckworth said the school went through 13 loaves of bread the first day they unveiled the program, the Herald and Review reported. The school is raising money to help defray the cost of the snacks through casual dress Fridays, where students donate $1 to wear jeans or school-appropriate pajamas, the newspaper reported. Duckworth said the school is looking for donations of bread, peanut butter and jelly, along with grocery store gift cards, the Herald & Review reported.

Instead of going into debt this holiday season, a consumer finance expert recommends shrinking your gift- giving list. >> Read more trending news  Debt expert, speaker and author Ja’Net Adams told WFMY that consumers should not buy Christmas gifts for adults. This will help reduce the likelihood of consumers who are already experiencing financial strain sliding into further debt, according to a blog post from Adams in which she declares “no adult needs a Christmas gift.” If consumers can’t resist some kind of gift exchange, Adams recommends helping a loved one with a bill or by following her family’s tradition, which is to draw names from a hat on Thanksgiving. Then, you only buy one gift for the person to whom you are assigned, Adams told WFMY. Adams also recommends focusing on experiences versus buying gifts during the holiday season. Have friends over for a dinner party or get together for a low-cost outing. Finally, Adams encourages consumers to not overlook themselves this holiday season. She encourages consumers to focus on their financial future and take steps to secure it now.

A Kentucky judge may be facing impeachment after she was accused of having sex with her staff in the courthouse and allowing alcohol and loud guitar music. >> Read more trending news  The Kentucky Judicial Conduct Commission filed nine counts of misconduct Nov. 18 against Kenton County Family Court Judge Dawn M. Gentry. According to the Nov. 18 filing, Gentry is accused of abusing her power to solicit sex and campaign donations from staff members and attorneys, and retaliated against them if they refused, The Washington Post reported. “You have engaged in a pattern of conduct that constitutes misconduct in office and violates the Code of Judicial Conduct,” the commission said in its filing. Gentry denied the allegations through her attorney, Stephen P. Ryan, in a Dec. 2 response to the commission. Gentry was appointed to Kenton County Family Court in 2016 by Gov. Matt Bevins and was officially elected to the post in 2018, WKRC reported. According to the affidavit, after the November 2018 election, Gentry allegedly hired a case specialist, Stephen Penrose, with whom she was having a sexual affair, forcing another staff member to resign to make room for him on the staff. Gentry is also accused of having sex with the case specialist and another woman at the courthouse, according to the affidavit. Gentry also allegedly asked an abused children’s attorney to join her in a threesome and retaliated against her when she refused, the affidavit said. 'Any of the Counts described below, on their own, constitute sufficient grounds for disciplinary action,” the commission wrote. “But examined as a whole, the allegations in this Notice demonstrate a pattern of misconduct in office.” Gentry, in her answer to the complaint, wrote in capital letters that she did not have a sexual relationship with Penrose, adding he was qualified for his job because he held a similar position in another county. Gentry also denied having a threesome, according to the response. Gentry added that the guitar playing, by Penrose, happened “on occasion,” and she did not realize it was a distraction. There is no longer any guitar playing at the office, she wrote in her response. The complaint also alleged Gentry was drinking while at work. She denied the allegation and said in her response she did not know her employees were drinking on the job. If found guilty, Gentry could lose her seat, WCPO reported. 'They’re very serious charges,” attorney Richard Goldberg told the television station. “There’s numerous ones and several are serious enough that they can, if proven, justify removal from the bench, yes.”

A musician, artist and athlete taken far too soon. Ariana Rae, known to many as Ana, was a star student-athlete and artist at Fernandina Beach High School. “She was a very giving soul; she would give anybody anything,” her father, Mark Delfs, said. But at just 17 years old, Ana died of mononucleosis, a contagious disease many people have heard of, but one that many believe isn’t deadly. >> Read more trending news  “Your body is supposed to be able to fight it off. It was too far, too fast,” Delfs said. Three weeks ago, she started feeling sick. “She had cold symptoms. The persistent thing all the way through was a headache; she seem to always have a headache.” Delfs says they took her to the doctor and they did a lot of tests, but the doctors still couldn’t pinpoint what was wrong. Her condition kept getting worse. “One evening, not too long ago, she started throwing up just constantly. We got very nervous, so the next morning at 7 a.m. we said we’re going to take her to the hospital.” But there, her symptoms only got worse. “She got up to go to the bathroom,' he said. 'All of a sudden she couldn’t feel part of her legs, and she felt like her legs were just giving out.” Doctors thought she was having a stroke and airlifted her to a hospital in Jacksonville. “Her words were very slurred at times. She was just talking gibberish, and the damage was already beginning at that point, which we just didn’t know,” her dad said. It was only in her final days when doctors learned what was wrong. “She actually had mono and Epstein-Barr, which is mononucleosis, which is the sleeping disease.” Something doctors had tested for but Delfs says they couldn’t detect it. Ana had been in the hospital for only three days when Delfs had to say goodbye to her. “Her brain swelled to the point where it couldn’t function and brain damage did occur,' he said. “And we just made the decision that it was time to let her go.” While the Delfs and the entire community are still coming to terms with the loss, her father hopes her story can save someone else’s child. He urges parents to take every symptom of illness seriously and be on top of it. “In our case, it wasn’t enough, but in somebody else’s case it may save their life,” he said. Delfs says the silver lining to it all was the fact that she will continue helping people. “The doctor actually told us she was an organ donor and we were just, I can’t even describe it. We were just like, ‘Wow, that’s her. That sums her up right there.’” There is a big community rallying behind the Delfs family. Mark Delfs has started a GoFundMe legacy fund in his daughter’s honor. “Within 24 hours, I think, we just about hit $10,000, which I’m just so blown away by.” He says the money will be donated to all the places, people and organizations that Ana loved. If you would like to help, visit www.arianadelfs.com.

The family of 18-month-old Chloe Wiegand is suing Royal Caribbean over the little girl’s death in Puerto Rico. They say the cruise line should have safer windows that would have prevented the child from falling 11 floors to the pier below, The Indy Star reported. Kim Wiegand and Alan Wiegand, the girl’s parents, and Salvatore “Sam' Anello, her grandfather, appeared with their attorney Wednesday morning to announce the lawsuit, the newspaper reported. They did not say what financial damages they are trying to get from the cruise line but said the suit was filed to make sure Royal Caribbean and other companies have signs posted that the family said would prevent other tragedies, according to the Star. >> Read more trending news  Chloe Wiegand fell from an open window when Anello was watching her, NBC News reported. He has been charged with negligent homicide, but said he thought there was glass in the windowpane. Anello said if there had been a warning sign he would not have been near it, according to NBC News. The window had been slid open and Anello claimed he couldn’t tell that it wasn’t shut. When he lifted Chloe up to bang on the glass, like she frequently did at her brother’s hockey games, he held her as she leaned forward over a wooden railing about 18 inches from the window. She slipped from Anello’s grip and fell to the pier, NBC News reported. Anello also said he is colorblind, and that may have attributed to his not realizing that the glass window was open, according to an interview he did with CBS News last month. Anello said people have written to him, saying that the windows are tinted, but he said he couldn’t see the coloring on the window, possibly due to the condition, CBS News reported. He said he thought his granddaughter fell to the floor when she slipped, but realized that she had fallen from the ship, CBS News reported. If convicted of negligent homicide, Anello faces up to three years in prison. His next court date is scheduled for next week, the Indy Star reported. Royal Caribbean has not commented on the lawsuit announced Wednesday, the newspaper reported.

A 22-year-old man is accused of strangling his grandmother and great-grandmother at their Texas home and living with the bodies for nearly three weeks, authorities said. >> Read more trending news  Jaryd Ramos, 22, of Philadelphia, was charged with capital murder in the deaths of Barbara Gromley, 59, and Regina Gromley, 90, according to Lt. Scott Spencer, spokesman for the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office. Spencer said Ramos, who was arrested Tuesday, admitted to killing the two women because he was “tired of them,” KTRK reported. “This is a horrific crime,” the Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. Investigators with the Sheriff’s Office believe Ramos moved into his great-grandmother’s home in Spring in July, according to KHOU. According to investigators, Ramos admitted killing the women Nov. 5. On Nov. 26, family members filed a missing person report with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, KTRK reported. When deputies interviewed Ramos on Monday, he allowed them to search the premises, according to the news release. Deputies found the body of Regina Gromley inside a trash can behind the home, the Sheriff’s Office said. Ramos admitted to killing his great-grandmother after her body was discovered, according to the news release. Ramos then told investigators he killed his grandmother and placed her in a tote before dumping her body behind an abandoned church in Spring, KRIV reported. Barbara Gromley’s body was found Sunday, KPRC reported.