The federal government is recommending that employees who have been furloughed as part of the ongoing shutdown simply perform chores for their landlord in exchange for rent.
That's the actual advice straight from the Office of Personnel Management, a government agency that oversees federal employees, which on Thursday tweeted a series of "sample letters" for furloughed employees to make use of. One of them is addressed to the employee's landlord, which says, in part, "I would like to discuss with you the possibility of trading my services to perform maintenance (e.g. painting, carpentry work) in exchange for partial rent payments."
To make matters worse, when the agency tweeted out a link to these forms, it also recommended employees "consult with your personal attorney," assuming furloughed workers who are struggling to pay their rent would have a personal attorney on hand.
More than 800,000 federal employees are furloughed, CBS News reports, as part of a government shutdown that still has no end in sight. Brendan Morrow
Update Dec. 29: The file linked for download in the Office of Personnel Management tweet has been updated and no longer includes the landlord letter containing the chore barter idea.
Actor Jussie Smollett is now considered a suspect in a criminal investigation, a spokesman for the Chicago Police Department announced Wednesday.
Anthony Guglielmi tweeted that Smollett is being investigated for filing a false police report, which is a felony, and "detectives are currently presenting evidence before a Cook County Grand Jury." The Empire star said that on Jan. 29, he was attacked by two men, who put a rope around his neck and yelled racist and homophobic slurs. When police began their investigation, they said the incident could be a "possible hate crime."
Two persons of interest were questioned last week and released without charges. Smollett has denied staging the attack. Catherine Garcia
A member of the jury from the Brooklyn-based trial of Sinaloan cartel leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzmán told Vice News about their experience with the widely publicized case, detailing a daily routine that was rife with both excitement and a constant state of fear.
"It's a once-in-a-lifetime thing," the juror, whose identity was withheld, said. "This is the case of the century. Do I want to live it … or do I want to watch it on the screen?"
The juror told Vice News that, while the 12 members were able to return to their homes every night, they had to meet at secret locations every morning and, in teams of five, hop into vans driven by U.S. Marshals to ensure their protection.
Initially, the juror said, the jury stuck to Judge Brian Cogan's orders to refrain from speaking about the case or following it on the news or social media. But curiosity eventually got the better of some members, who would whisper with each other about the next steps of the case during the ride home and follow what reporters were tweeting.
The Vice News report and the apparent violations of the judge's orders garnered a response from Guzmán's legal team, sparking speculation that they could appeal for a new trial, USA Today reported. Guzmán was found guilty last week on 10 counts that included narcotics trafficking.
"More disturbing is the revelation that the jury may have lied to the court and had seen some deeply prejudicial, uncorroborated and inadmissible allegations against Mr. Guzmán on the eve of the beginning of jury deliberations," Jeffrey Lichtman, one of Guzman's defense attorneys, wrote in an email to Law & Crime. "Above all, Joaquín Guzmán deserved a fair trial."
The juror told Vice News, however, that the conversations and media exposure did not change anyone's mind. Tim O'Donnell
There's apparently a wide swath of cell phone users begging to be confused by a baffling array of camera lens options, and Samsung's got the market cornered.
Samsung put on a literal show on Wednesday, streaming the unveiling of its newest line of smartphones online for the world to see. The most startling new development in its line is the Galaxy Fold, a smartphone that literally folds into a tablet and back again, which would allow the user to view three apps at once, which is nothing compared to the Fold's six — yes, six — built-in cameras.
It is not, apparently, the first foldable smartphone produced, but it is expected to be the first made widely available when it hits shelves on April 26, per The Verge. And while some of the features may seem gratuitous, particularly the $1,980 price tag, Bloomberg reported that the Fold represents "a leap that rivals the category shifts not seen since smartphones took off with a broad audience more than a decade ago." For prolific amateur photographers, snap-happy tourists, and angle-working selfie lovers alike, the innovation may be welcome news. Tim O'Donnell
Jussie Smollett is not being written out of Empire, 20th Century Fox says.
Fox said in a statement Wednesday that Smollett "continues to be a consummate professional on set," and the network reiterated that he's "not being written out of the show." This followed reports from Deadline and TMZ that Smollett was having his role on Empire reduced. When these reports first emerged, Fox declined to comment.
Still, the original reports did not exactly claim that Smollett was being written out of the series entirely. Rather, the reporting was that his role was being minimized, with TMZ saying that scenes focused on Smollett were being cut but that the actor would still have a presence in ensemble scenes.
These questions about Smollett's future come as questions emerge about his claims that he was the victim of a hate crime last month. CNN has reported that Chicago police believe he paid two men to assault him, while Smollett continues to deny these claims. Brendan Morrow