Rare Simple

For most of us, dogs are cherished family members, loyal friends whose reward is human love and companionship.

Alas, one good dog in Oklahoma City was betrayed by those he depended on.

A sick and frightened dog was found clinging to life at the bottom of a dumpster after his owners mercilessly tossed him away and left him to die.

A kindhearted passerby brought the dog to the Oklahoma City Animal Shelter, where staff worked tirelessly to save him.

The hapless pup, now renamed Ralph, had such a ferocious case of mange that he’d lost nearly all the hair on his malnourished body.

Severely underweight, Ralph was covered with bleeding sores and wounds.

Ralph’s second chance came via Mutt Misfits Animal Rescue, which undertook his extensive treatment, supplied him with nourishing food,and gave him a new name and a chance at a new life.

When Ralph arrived, staff posted on the Mutt Misfits Facebook page, “We are completely and utterly heartbroken. His new life starts now.”

According to the rescue,Ralph was riddled with worms and parasites,which further weakened the sick, malnourished pup.

In addition, after subsisting on garbage scraps for who knows how long, Ralph’s calcium levels were dangerously disordered.

It was clear to all concerned that if the Good Samaritan hadn’t intervened, Ralph would have lost his fight for life.

Heather Hernandez, of Mutt Misfits, told news channel 4 KFOR, “Somebody wrapped him in some kind of gauze and then went out of their way to throw him in the trash, like a piece of garbage.”

Unfortunately, the heartless person who discarded Ralph is still at large,

To cover the costs of the extensive treatment Ralph needs, Mutt Misfits is asking the community for donations.

His body is beginning to heal, but vet visits and medication continue.

Ralph faces a long road to complete recovery, but the vet is confident that both his body and broken heart will make a complete recovery.

Ralph’s sweet personality is blossoming at the rescue, where humans and animals alike have come to adore him.

This good boy is well on his way to finding a loving new forever home.

Prosecutors released a statement, saying the defendant, 40-year-old Alicia, was sentenced to 25 years in prison after she murdered 65-year-old John.

Alicia was sentenced on Thursday, court records say. The victim, who reportedly used a wheelchair, was killed by Alicia and her 41-year-old boyfriend Marcus.

According to the court documents, the 40-year-old woman reportedly moved to John’s home to ‘help him with his daily activities’ only to rob him and strangle him to death. Read the full story here ▶

Residents of a tiny Texas town awoke to find that their beloved “Jesus Welcomes You” sign had been uprooted in the middle of the night by the city council. However, instead of taking it lying down, the feisty church members decided to pay them a little visit.

The northeastern Texas town of Hawkins boasts deep roots embedded in America’s Judeo-Christian founding. As a symbol of the community’s values, the town erected a sign that reads “Jesus Welcomes You to Hawkins,” which has greeted visitors on Highway 80 since 2015. Despite the sign presenting no problem for several years, the city council recently took issue with its presence, ordering the Jesus Christ Open Altar Church to remove it.

When the church refused, the city made it their mission to tear down the display, forcing the congregation to take turns standing watch over the sign. However, they never expected that the city would hire government workers to sneak over in the dead of night and snatch the church’s banner.

The Longview News-Journal reports that the city council dismissed the community’s outrage over having torn down the sign, insisting that it’s their property, according to Hawkins City Secretary Dona Jordan. However, the congregation is indignant that the city would stoop to such levels, claiming that the plot of land actually belongs to the church itself.

“We are fixing to put a street in on our easement,” Jordan said. “That is our platted street.”

Believing that the church would eventually accept their fate, the city ignored their complaints. Seeing that their civil servants were no longer representing its constituents, the church has boldly announced that they are filing a religious discrimination lawsuit against the council, accusing them of committing an anti-Christian hate crime, church trustee Mark McDonald confirmed.

“The city employees destroyed our church property, pulled up our crosses and destroyed everything,” McDonald said. He said he was notified of the action by police. “We’re treating it like a hate crime of religious discrimination that was conspired by the city. We have enough documents to prove that,” McDonald said. “The city was warned (Thursday) by our attorneys not to touch it and not to bother it. There’s been closed meetings, closed records (and) a lot of things wrong.”

Although the city repeatedly ignored the legal advice of attorneys to undermine the church’s alleged right to the land, they’re certainly paying attention now. McDonald claims that the city is under investigation for numerous legal violations and will face voters in court.

“I’ve got eight open records violations alleged against the city,” McDonald said. “They were in full knowledge that they were violating the law.”

The Christian majority is finding itself more of a target than ever before. Unconstitutional legislation is forcing churches to violate their biblical beliefs. Typically, small towns and close-knit communities have proven themselves to be formidable forces against the tyranny of government overreach. However, some are finding that they have no choice but to fight fire with fire.

While citizens have no issue with the sign, Chief of Police Manfred Gilow says that the sign just recently became a safety hazard, as drivers apparently need “90-degree access to the highway.” The city argued that it has held an easement on the property since 1909. However, the church maintains that the city abandoned its interest in the plot in 1994, which allegedly nullifies their claim on the title.

Until the city and church face off in court, the community remains divided. The city is beginning construction on the proposed turn, which will cut through the property. Still, the church isn’t about to give in without a fight. Only time will tell whether the court will side with the supercilious city council or the indignant congregation.

MNPD officials said the 65-year-old suspect, later identified as Willie, reportedly used a large knife to rob a 36-year-old educator on campus. The teacher, who was not identified, reportedly told investigators that she was confronted by Willie in the parking lot.

“The victim reported that a stranger, subsequently identified as Willie, approached, pulled a butcher knife, and demanded her cash. When she told Willie that she had no money, he robbed her of her keys, cell phone, watch, and air pods.

She said he then made her go into the gym, where he pushed her into a closet. He then fled in the victim’s Honda Accord,” the release states.

Willie was taken into custody and later charged with aggravated robbery with a weapon. When he was arrested, the 65-year-old suspect reportedly confessed to robbing the teacher and then showed police where he had parked her car.

Additional charges against Willie are expected to be filed. According to L&C, probable cause affidavit provided additional details regarding the alleged robbery. During an interview with investigators, the teacher told police that Willie was holding a large butcher knife when he approached her, forced her into the school gym, and demanded her money. After taking her electronics and keys, he also allegedly said that he would have killed her if not for her race.

“I’m not going to hurt you but if you were a white b***h I’d kill you,” he reportedly said to the teacher. The teacher also noted that the closet she was forced into inside the gym automatically locked her inside when the door closed, per reports. Police officials said the 36-year-old woman then continued to bang on the closet door and call for help until a group of students heard her and let her out. It was not immediately clear how long she was trapped in the closet.

The Higher School involved in the FFA descent upon Indianapolis every year for the annual large organization meeting. They elect new national officers, engage in breakout sessions and accomplish quite a bit while in town.

The students are encouraged to spread kindness and socialize safely while in town. Except one night, a group of FFA kids from the Eureka, Kansas, FFA chapter were a wee bit too loud for their hotel neighbors and the mom next door was sure to let them know about it.

A family John and Randi Amt, along with their three kids, had been holed up at a local hotel for 10 days when the FFA kids arrived. The family wasn’t exactly enjoying their lengthy hotel stay, because they were there by necessity.

Their house was completely flooded and left unhabitable when a toilet malfunctioned while they were out of town. John told WTHR that living for such a period of time in a hotel had become daunting on the family.

“Living in a hotel can be fun for a little while, but being in a hotel for a long time gets to be a little difficult.”

When the FFA kids arrived in town, countless students stayed at their hotel. Randi was already exhausted from driving kids to sports practice and activities back in their home town 30 minutes away.

Randi and John tucked the kids into bed quickly, but the teens outside their door in the hallway were making noise. Randi grew frustrated, but then realized she shouldn’t talk to the kids as upset as she was, so she headed to bed.

So the next evening, she noticed the students’ hotel doors were cracked, so she knocked and asked to speak with them. She pleaded with them to be just a bit quieter at night and told them about her family’s plight.

“I told them that we wanted them to have their fun and we would appreciate their respect to let our kids get a good night’s rest. The young man who answered the door told me that he was very sorry about what we were going through.”

She hated to confront the FFA students, but her kids needed better sleep. As she readied for bed, she glanced over toward the hotel room door and noticed that someone had slipped a note under the door.

What Randi read in the note tugged at her heartstrings. It was from the FFA students and they told her they were sorry about her home.

“We are more than sorry for waking you and your family up the past few nights. We hope everything goes well with your house.”

What accompanied the note addressed to her family reassured her that their were still good people in this world. That today’s teenagers do indeed possess compassion for others going through a rough patch.

“I opened the note to find money. In a world where some people sit behind screens and become angry on social media, this young man restored my faith that the next generation can make eye contact and show compassion to the person right in front of him … They set an excellent example for my children and their parents should be more than proud.”

Allthough the Amts are without a home, they decided to take the $40 bestowed upon them by the FFA kids and pay it forward. They bought hats and mittens to donate to a local shelter because those people don’t have a roof over their heads.

How incredibly thoughtful of the FFA high schoolers to not only try to offer a bit of support to the family, but also make a heartfelt note expressing their sincere feelings!

It had been days since anyone had seen two-year-old Haleigh Ann, after her mother dropped her off at the babysitter’s house for the weekend.

When the caretaker failed to return her home on Sunday and couldn’t be reached, cops were called to find the missing girl. When the found her, she had two terrifying words about what she saw.

The mother of the Michigan toddler was struggling in life after her significant other, who is Haleigh’s father, went to jail on drug offences. Read the full story here ▶

At the age of 16, Liz Haslam met someone who she believed was the love of her life: Mike.

Several years later, they would get married, have their child Ollie, and live in a lovely Barnham, Suffolk 2-bedroom home with a nice, big rural garden.

For 25 years, the pair were happily married and survived numerous trials and tribulations – and then it all came crashing when Mike told her that she had to choose: him, or the dogs. Read the full story here ▶

When South Carolina police were called out to a pregnant woman’s home, they arrived on a scene that they weren’t mentally prepared for and will unfortunately never forget.

The emergency call resulted in the 8-months-along pregnant mother behind bars and her three children clinging to life.

Police officers were distpatched to the home of Savanah Victoria Morgan, a mother who was eight months pregnant, after her 2-year-old son was found unresponsive in his room. Read the full story here ▶

Service dogs are doing very important work and usually must not be disturbed by pets or play, as this can jog them out of their work mindset.

Unfortunately, this is something that not everyone seems to understand. Laura Joos was enjoying her day shopping at Walmart with her service pup when she noticed a mother with her three children walking in their direction.

Having had a service dog for a while, Laura could tell that those kids were likely going to try and pet her dog. Read the full story here ▶

You know the struggle gets real when there’s a tornado warning in town because no one is ever completely prepared for a situation like this.

When the city of St. Louis, Missouri received a tornado warning, double amputee, blind and wheelchair-bound, Gregory Beck, knew he had to rush back home from the grocery store before the tornado hits his city.

But as we all know, such circumstances can alter the mind, leading to tons of anxiety thereby hindering our train of thought, leaving our brain haphazard. Read the full story here ▶