Good morning Her Campus! With a break-neck news cycle, there is no possible way for you to stay on top of every story that comes across your feeds—we’re all only human, after all.
But, life comes at you fast. So grab a cup of coffee and settle in for this quick and dirty guide to stories you might’ve been sleeping on (like, literally. It’s early.)
Former Cleveland Cop Who Fatally Shot Tamir Rice Has New Job
Timothy Loehmann, the former Cleveland patrol officer who fatally shot 12-year-old Tamir Rice in 2014, has been hired by a police department in a small Ohio village. According to The New York Times, the shooting "intensified national outrage over the killing of unarmed black men and boys," but Loehmann was never charged for Tamir's death. However, he was fired from the Cleveland Police Department last year, after it was discovered that he lied on his job application.
Now, Loehmann be working for the Bellaire Police Department, which resides over a community of around 4,000 people. The NYT reported that Richard Flanagan, the Bellaire police chief, "had no concerns" about hiring Loehmann. "He was cleared of any and all wrongdoing," Flanagan told Ohio's The Times Leader, adding that it was unfair to "crucify" him and that it's "over and done with.
Tamir's mother, Samaria Rice, told The Daily Beast that hearing the news that Loehmann had been hired put her "in a state of shock." She's taking action, though — in the form of a letter-writing and call-in campaign, where people will contact the town of Bellaire to hopefully get Loehmann's job offer rescinded. "How could anyone even consider putting him on a police force?" Rice said. "That police chief is putting his own people in danger."
Hurricane Michael Dubbed "Extremely Dangerous" as it Moves Toward Florida
People in parts of the Gulf Coast of Florida are preparing for a big storm as Hurricane Michael — which is expected to become a "major hurricane" by Tuesday, according to the National Hurricane Center— heads inland. Florida Governor Rick Scott has already declared a state of emergency, saying on Monday night that "making decisions tomorrow might be too late."
Three Florida Panhandle counties also issued mandatory evacuation orders, and Florida State University will be closed from Tuesday through Thursday this week. "Take this seriously and keep your family safe," Scott said. "We know that a storm like Michael can be devastating and deadly."
Current projections show that Michael could make landfall as a Category 3 hurricane with winds around 111 MPH. The Weather Channel's Rick Knabb said that Michael "could be one of the worst hurricanes to ever strike the Florida Big Bend and Florida Panhandle region."
Google+ is Shooting Down After a Security Lapse
Google announced on Monday that its shutting down social network Google+ for consumer use after news broke that the company reportedly failed to reveal a security breach that affected hundreds of thousands of accounts. Ben Smith, Google's VP of engineering, detailed the "bug" that exposed user information in a blog post. According to Smith, the company "discovered and immediately patched" the bug, which also didn't lead to the misuse of any data.
However, The Wall Street Journal reported that Google executives purposely avoided disclosing the problem when they initially detected it back in March. The company was allegedly concerned over potential comparisons to Facebook's massive data leak to Cambridge Analytica, a data firm that was accused of improperly using the information of 87 million Facebook users on behalf of Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.
Google didn't comment on the WSJ's report, or explain why they waited to address the bug.
What to look for...
Whether or not you're registered to vote, as the deadline is approaching or here for many states. Check on your state here.