As more and more details about Texas’ third Ebola victim, Amber Vinson, come to light, attention is turning to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which acknowledged clearing the nurse to fly even after she reported a high fever, CBS News reports. Vinson is the second nurse from Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital to contract…

Kamara James, an Olympic fencer from Queens, N.Y., has died in Modesto, Calif., USA Fencing reported Tuesday. The cause of the 29-year-old’s death, which occurred Sept. 20, according to the Modesto Bee, has not been announced. Just 10 years ago, at the age of 19, James became one of the youngest fencers to represent the USA at…

Researchers from the University of Delaware’s Center for Political Communication have released a new study suggesting that photographs of black Americans using voting machines affect white respondents’ support of voter-ID laws. According to the study (pdf), when white survey respondents saw an image of black Americans using ballot machines, they had stronger support for voter ID…

One Waller, Texas, police officer has been placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation into his seemingly unprovoked use of pepper spray on a student, KTRK reports. Officer Adolphus Cannon is being investigated by the Waller Police Department regarding the incident, which took place Oct. 6. According to the report, officers were responding to…

Ebola has been diagnosed in a third victim in Texas, and it’s another health care worker who cared for now-deceased patient Thomas Eric Duncan at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, health officials confirmed Wednesday, according to CNN. The worker, identified as Amber Vinson by Reuters, reported having a fever on Tuesday and was promptly isolated. A state…

Deacons of the Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church in Montgomery, Ala., have now filed a lawsuit against the Rev. Juan D. McFarland, who shook his congregation when he confessed to sleeping around with church members even though he knew he had AIDS, NBC News reports.  Church members voted almost unanimously (80-1) to get rid of the…

Cultural appropriation and various forms of blackface are usually what’s dredged up from the place of all things offensive and tacky for Halloween, but this year’s Ebola outbreak seems to be attracting the attention of trick-or-treaters looking to up their game when it comes to the distasteful. According to the Associated Press, fake protective gear…

A 15-month-old girl was killed by a stray bullet while playing inside her New Jersey home on Saturday, a mere two days after moving in, CBS 2 reports. According to the report, authorities are searching for three men who were last seen wearing black hoodies and firing guns multiple times in the Irvington neighborhood. One…

A New Jersey man is back behind bars after allegedly killing his own mother—two days after completing a 30-year prison sentence for another murder, NJ.com reports. According to the report, Steven Pratt, 45, was taken into custody on Sunday, not even 48 hours after he was released from Bayside State Prison for the 1984 murder…

Marvin Ellison, the current executive vice president at Home Depot Inc., and a retail veteran with about three decades in the industry, will face some big challenges when he takes on the role of J.C. Penney CEO, the Associated Press reports. As the news wire notes, the department store chain has been trying to recover…