National News, Thursday, April 4; Actresses of College Scandel Appear in Court

by Don Early and Aaron Martinez for Basin Life Magazine

THURSDAY, APRIL 4, 2019

Yesterday San Francisco Mayor London Breed was heckled  during a noisy community meeting Wednesday to discuss a controversial homeless center proposal along the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s own district, a San Francisco waterfront that has attracted dueling online fundraisers from critics and supporters.

“Homelessness is the number one problem that we face in our city. You cannot be upset about homelessness and then when I propose a real solution, then you’re upset about it,” Breed said while trying to discuss plans to build a 200-bed Homeless Navigation Center in the city’s Embarcadero section.

The area is part of California’s 12th Congressional District, represented by Pelosi, and a subject she seldoms addresses.   City officials described the planned facility and addressed security and noise concerns. The site is owned by the Port of San Francisco and is currently a parking lot surrounded by high-rise luxury condominiums. The center would occupy 44,000-square feet. A lease is planned for four years.

“Today was a sales pitch. It was not a community meeting, as evidenced by them focusing on the lighting, and the colors and the look and feel of the facility, and not what’s happening to the people on the inside,” said resident Chris Curtis, who lives near the site.

Ms. Breed was eventually shouted down by critics and cut her address short.

“Either you let me speak, or you leave,” she responded. “I can’t continue, but I will stay and listen to the comments. The least we could do is show respect for one another.”

The exchange was representative of the opposition from some waterfront residents who fear the 24-hour shelter will negatively impact the area and their quality of life, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

“They all have mental health issues and drug and alcohol abuse,” said resident Shadan Golkar, who said she’d support low-income housing at the site, but rejected the idea of a homeless center.  Stay tuned.

New York City Police find woman’s body in a Staten Island storage facility.

New York City Police have found a woman’s body in a Staten Island storage facility that’s believed to be the missing teacher and mother of 3 children, who disappeared Saturday.   Medical examiners are investigating the body discovery outside of Extra Space Storage in Arden Heights.  Medical crews could be seen going in and out of the building wearing white Tyvek suits.

Jeanine Cammarata, 37, disappeared Saturday night and allegedly sent a flurry of strange text messages saying she needed a break, law enforcement sources said.

On Wednesday, Cammarata’s estranged husband, Michael Cammarata, was charged with assault, stalking and harassment after admitting to police that he punched her in the face, law enforcement sources said.

Police also determined that Michael Cammarata, who lives in Queens, drove to Staten Island on Sunday night, a law enforcement source said. He was being questioned Thursday morning and had retained a lawyer, a police source said. The estranged couple have two children, ages 7 and 3, together. Jeanine Cammarata has another child, 11, with her first husband.

Michael Cammarata had just been served with divorce papers before Jeanine Cammarata went missing, and the two were expected in court Monday for a divorce and child custody hearing over their 3-year-old son and 7-year-old daughter, Jeanine’s lawyer said.

Actresses Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman faced court appearances Wednesday on charges they took part in the college bribery scandal that has ensnared dozens of wealthy parents.

The actresses along with Loughlin’s fashion designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli, and dozens of others were charged last month in a scheme in which authorities say parents paid an admissions consultant to bribe college coaches and rig test scores to get their children into elite universities.

Huffman, Loughlin and Giannulli, whose Mossimo clothing had long been a Target brand, have not publicly commented on the allegations. They were set to make their first appearances in Boston’s federal court along with other parents charged in the scheme.

Huffman arrived at the courthouse late Wednesday morning, hours before the hearing was scheduled to begin.

Loughlin, who played Aunt Becky on the sitcom “Full House” in the 1980s and ’90s, and Giannulli are accused of paying $500,000 to have their two daughters labeled as recruits to the University of Southern California crew team, even though neither participated in the sport.

The Hallmark Channel — where Loughlin starred in popular holiday movies and the series “When Calls the Heart” — cut ties with Loughlin a day after her arrest.

Loughlin and Giannulli’s daughter, social media star Olivia Jade Giannulli, was dropped from advertising deals with cosmetics retailer Sephora and hair products company TRESemme.

Huffman, the Emmy-winning star of ABC’s “Desperate Housewives,” is accused of paying $15,000 that she disguised as a charitable donation to cheat on her daughter’s college entrance exam.

Among the other parents expected in the Boston court Wednesday was Gordon Caplan, former co-chairman of the international law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher, based in New York.

Caplan is accused of paying $75,000 to get a test supervisor to correct the answers on his daughter’s ACT exam after she took it. Caplan’s firm said after his arrest that he has been placed on a leave of absence.

The consultant at the center of the scheme, Rick Singer, pleaded guilty and is cooperating with investigators. Former Yale women’s soccer coach Rudy Meredith also pleaded guilty.

Several coaches pleaded not guilty , including tennis coach Gordon Ernst who’s accused of getting $2.7 million in bribes to designate at least 12 applicants as recruits to Georgetown.

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