Local
Grand theft NASCAR
After being stolen from a hotel parking lot, NASCAR’s No. 44 race car was found abandoned roadside in Gwinnett County, according to Yahoo News. Driver Travis Kvapil and team XTREME were unable to compete at Friday’s qualifier for the Sprint Cup race at the Atlanta Motor Speedway due to the incident. Team owner John Cohen said nothing from the car, which is valued at $250,000, was damaged or stolen. However, the truck towing the race car was found a few hours later in Stockbridge, Georgia with a damaged door handle and ignition. The trailer that contained the race car remains missing and it had contained $100,000 spare engine and valuable mechanical equipment.
National
No punishment for insensitive party
A University of Texas fraternity will not be punished for their recent ‘border patrol’ party, according to USA Today. The University of Texas Dean of Students Soncia Reagins-Lilly ruled that the students did not violate any university policies at the off-campus party on Feb. 26. President of the Phi Gamma Delta (Fiji) fraternity said the Feb. 7 party was meant to have a western theme but he admits some of the guests’ attire could have been considered insensitive or inappropriate. Party attendees were reportedly wearing sombreros, ponchos and construction gear. It is reported that many students are upset that the fraternity is going unpunished and the university’s Latino Community Affairs issued a letter of concern with over 400 signatures.
International
Fugitive pastor captured
Fugitive Minnesota pastor Victor Arden Barnard, accused of 59 sexual assaults, was arrested on Feb. 27 in Brazil, according to CNN. The dozens of alleged assaults were reported by two women whom are former members of Barnard’s River Road Fellowship. The women claim Barnard abused them for over a decade after he convinced members of his congregation to let their first born daughters live with him at a secluded camp in Pine County, Minnesota. Barnard’s former followers said he proclaimed himself Christ on Earth. Barnard is currently awaiting extradition to the U.S. in a federal jail in Lagoa Nova, Natal. Brazilian police were hunting him for five months.
