Police have arrested a 24-year-old Waldo woman who they believe called in a bomb threat to the University of Florida last week.
Jessica Ward was charged with making a false report concerning planting a bomb, which is a felony, according to a news release today from UF police.
The threat was made against the university’s engineering building, and Ward worked in the building’s Java Hut Coffee Kiosk, the release says.
Students were evacuated from the building Wednesday after a note was found on the first floor of the building in a restroom, and classes in the building were canceled for the rest of the day.
Later, during an interview with police, Ward said she wrote the threat. She told them she wanted to leave work at the threat’s indicated time so she could have “me time,” according to the release.
Ward was arrested this morning and remained at the Alachua County jail on a $15,000 bond.
Open Thread!
Baud
I like a person who takes initiative. She’ll make a fine manager one day.
Adam L Silverman
Apparently Balloon Juice just eradicated the mumps! Another public health hazard resolved through blogging!!!!! ?
Adam L Silverman
@Baud: When I first clicked on the link I was wondering whether it was anyone I knew. There are at least a half dozen faculty and staff I could see doing this.
Baud
@Adam L Silverman: ?
Major Major Major Major
Wow, all I had to do was ask nicely and they’re letting me work from home tomorrow.
Baud
@Adam L Silverman: Has the University thought about giving people more personal days?
SiubhanDuinne
@Adam L Silverman:
AND?????
SiubhanDuinne
Where’s Waldo?
/ducks and scampers off
Villago Delenda Est
Geeze, why didn’t I think of that as a means of getting some “me time” in any workplace I’ve ever been a part of?
That would have gone over VERY well, I’m sure, in any military unit I was a member of, for example.
bemused
She’s got plenty of me time now.
Adam L Silverman
@Baud: mistermix had posted, very briefly, right after me. It was on a mumps outbreak. I refreshed the page and all of a sudden it was gone.
Adam L Silverman
@Baud: I have no idea. I haven’t worked for UF since July 2004 when my post-doc ended.
LAO
Ah, my favorite, stupid people. If it weren’t for them I wouldn’t have job.
Baud
@Adam L Silverman: Gotcha. I didn’t see Tim’s post.
Adam L Silverman
@SiubhanDuinne: Nope. When I left UF in 2004 she would have been 14. And I try never to even stop in Waldo, let alone set foot in it. Those peeps give me the creeps!
Adam L Silverman
@LAO: Don’t be eating or drinking anything when you read the email I sent you a while ago! You have been warned!!!!!!
debbie
“Me time” is what is destroying this country.
Major Major Major Major
@Adam L Silverman: Somebody’s full of beans today.
Baud
@debbie: No, that’s the GOP.
LAO
@Adam L Silverman: too late. ?
What a vile, vile man.
Baud
@LAO: Why are you and Adam emailing each other about me?
cmorenc
One of the rotating group of banner ads at the top of BJ today has Ron Paul warning us about some upcoming major surprise involving gold. The only surprise potential I foresee is how many gullible fools there might be out there to buy whatever Ron Paul is the pitch-man for (and taking a % cut off the revenue).
LAO
OT: to all the people with puppy car sickness advice, thank you. Also, I can report that organic ginger snap, appears to be a new favorite. The real test, of course will be tomorrow when I drive to my folks.
Miss Bianca
@Adam L Silverman: eeh? “Eradicating mumps”? Am I missing something?
ETA: OK, I’m tracking on the mumps thing now. I think.
This post did make me snortle out loud at work. Which, considering everything else that’s going on, is quite an achievement.
Davebo
@Major Major Major Major:
Full of beans? I heard that phrase for the first time from my Scottish girlfriend and the first thought I had was that I should point my arse the other way in bed!
Turns out, I got it all wrong.
Major Major Major Major
@Miss Bianca: It’s one of the new euphemisms the cool kids are using.
LAO
@Baud: As if we’d talk about anyone else!
SiubhanDuinne
@Miss Bianca:
See mistermix’s post just upstairs.
Chris
Ah, glorious sunny Florida.
And Florida Gators, at that.
What do you expect?
Brachiator
Saw the movie “Arrival” this past weekend. It was slow, ponderous, and I thought that Jeremy Renner was miscast, even though Amy Adams wanted and got him for the movie. Despite my reservations, and a lack of typical SF action, I liked the movie and its thoughtful approach to an alien arrival. There are some mild surprises and the movie reminded me as much of “Children of Men” as it did the more obvious comparison with “Contact.” Amy Adams’ performance is very solid, and I loved the visuals and the alien design.
I’m hearing very good things about the Disney movie “Moana.” It might bring peace peace to households over what might otherwise be a contentious Thanksgiving. OTOH, a turkey wishbone can make a formidable weapon, if handled correctly.
SiubhanDuinne
@Adam L Silverman:
It’s back, but it’s mistermix, not Tim F.
Unless there’s more than one mumps outbreak affecting BJ front-pagers.
Baud
@LAO: True.
SiubhanDuinne
@Davebo:
Bluff King Hall was full of beans:
He married half-a-dozen Quuens.
For three called Kate they cried the banns,
And one called Jane, and a couple of Annes.
/Herbert and Eleanor Farjeon (from memory)
SiubhanDuinne
@Adam L Silverman:
Hey, if it’s good enough for our President-elect….
Baud
@SiubhanDuinne: You are a nasty woman.
Miss Bianca
Don’t know if this is the most appropriate spot to post this, but per my friend (and erstwhile BJ commenter) Kerry Reid:
“Department of Justice is tallying phone calls regarding those who want the 2016 Vote audited. A shift of just 55,000 Trump votes to Hillary in PA, MI & WI is all that is needed to win. They are starting to recognize there really is something off about the election results as they come in. Considering everything that is at stake, a vote audit should be done.
Please take one minute and call/email the DOJ – Department of Justice: 1-800-253-3931 (press 5) or 202-353-1555 (leave message) or email: [email protected]
“My name is [first last name], I’m calling from [city],[state] to respectfully request you pursue an investigation into voter suppression, Russian collusion and FBI interference with the 2016 presidential election. Please issue an injunction until a thorough investigation can take place.”
The point is to provide the DOJ with numbers so they can say X number of Americans want an injunction. Short, sweet, polite does the trick.
Just for the record – You don’t have to say the whole spiel over the phone, you can just ask your name to be added to the list requesting the investigation instead of going through the whole thing.
I emailed. Hey, I don’t know if it will do any good, but damn it, it’s something.
Chris
@Brachiator:
From what I’m told, the movie (or at least the story it’s based on) is one of the stories that actually takes seriously the notion that an alien species would be, well, alien, not just humans in makeup, with vastly different mentalities. Looking forward to seeing it on those grounds alone.
ruemara
Pretty sure if Betty Cracker was ever a Florida Woman story, it would involve serious pyrotechnics.
LAO
@efgoldman: If it makes you feel any better, I rarely win.
Chris
@Miss Bianca:
Is that a good idea, or do you just come off like a conspiracy crank? Would you be better off just saying “voting irregularities” or the like?
Baud
@ruemara: And chickens.
opiejeanne
@ruemara:
And chickens or boxers.
opiejeanne
@Baud: Beat me to it, but brilliant minds etc.
Or is that warped minds?
opiejeanne
@SiubhanDuinne: Mumps outbreak among FPers on Balloon Juice?
See, this is how rumors get started.
Major Major Major Major
@Chris: “P.S. I am not a crackpot”
Barbara
I am guessing there is more me time in her future than she actually wanted.
Baud
@opiejeanne: Yes.
Roger Moore
@bemused:
I doubt if her cellmate will let her get too much me time.
ruemara
@opiejeanne: boxed chickens with pyrotechnics
GregB
This woman is a piker compared to Casey Fury who wanted time off from his job at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard so he started some rags on fire and caused 450 million in damage to a submarine. He has some time off now.
Miss Bianca
@Chris: I’d say vary the wording if you are concerned about it. And also, it feels really, REALLY weird to be the one saying, “what’s the difference between a conspracy theory and an *actual* conspiracy?”
Comes down to evidence. Evidence ain’t going to surface without an investigation.
Denali
@Miss Bianca
Done. Feels good to have done something to try to undo this nightmare. What good will a million women’s march do the day after inauguration?
PaulWartenberg2016
Waldo.
…
I went to UF 1988 to 1992.
…
I know Waldo.
World’s most infamous speed trap until they shut it down a few years ago because it was becoming too obvious a shakedown scam.
Actually a pretty fun flea market there, although I dunno if it’s still there, it’s been ages.
By the way, have they closed Leonardo’s yet? I’m tempted to go up there before they do if I ever find a day off to go.
hovercraft
Just think about all of these Florida Man and Florida Woman, characters hooking up and reproducing, what will their off spring be capable of?
Adam L Silverman
@SiubhanDuinne: Okay, I’ll fix it. It wasn’t up long enough for me to get a good look at who had done the post.
Adam L Silverman
@efgoldman: Revolving door = job security.
JPL
@LAO: Whatever! Some of us are pretty impressed that you argued in front of the 11 circuit court.
Adam L Silverman
@SiubhanDuinne: Ugh. And Ewww!
SiubhanDuinne
@Baud:
Betchersweetass I am.
SiubhanDuinne
@Miss Bianca:
Just emailed. Thanks!
Mnemosyne
@Miss Bianca:
A conspiracy theory is when you look at something bad that happened and spin a story to explain it. It’s the modern equivalent of Thor’s hammer being the explanation for why thunder exists.
A conspiracy is a conspiracy and usually doesn’t require a lot of theorizing. When legislators in North Carolina openly brag that they suppressed Black voters, it ain’t no theory that voter suppression occurred.
germy
Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy are on most evenings in our house. I can take Jeopardy, but Wheel of Fortune I can do without. Sajak gives me the creeps. Here he is on twitter:
Here’s what he tweeted on November 8th:
What a dick.
Citizen_X
@Denali:
Oh, come on. It’s American liberal tradition to posture and protest, full of righteous fury, after losing an election.
Mnemosyne
@germy:
LMM was a little infamous for calling people out on Twitter if their cell phones went off during the show. Apparently you can tell what row someone is in from the stage.
Sajak had better be sure not to have his cell phone on if he sees a show that stars Patti LuPone — she has been known to stop the whole show and yell at people from the stage.
GregB
@hovercraft:
The 2016 electorate minus voter suppression, Russian hacking and the Comey Effect?
Baud
@hovercraft:
Electing Trump.
Baud
@Citizen_X: Thanks to the Internet, I can do that from my couch.
Ruviana
@Mnemosyne: Good for her! Also too, Sajak is a notorious RWNJ.
germy
@Mnemosyne: he meant it in a political context (Pence).
Brachiator
@Chris:Yep. The humans and the ETs are mutually alien to each other, and are plausibly depicted.
And the aliens are never simplistically cute or easily lovable cuddle toys.
germy
I can’t remember his name, but a famous violinist responded to someone’s ringtone interrupting a concert by playing the ringtone on his violin.
Adam L Silverman
@Miss Bianca: The below is where this is coming from:
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/11/activists-urge-hillary-clinton-to-challenge-election-results.html?mid=twitter-share-di
And:
More at the link.
germy
@Ruviana:
They call Wheel of Fortune “America’s Game” because you’re always one spin away from bankruptcy and their common phrases are sentences no human has ever uttered.
germy
@Adam L Silverman: I notice NYMag quietly stopped taking reader comments.
Original Lee
@Miss Bianca: So what happens if the mail-in ballots tip the electoral vote the other way in Michigan? Is this possible? Would we even hear about it?
hovercraft
This is so depressing, Shepard Smith, is more of a journalist than most of msnbc, not on during prime time.
hovercraft
@germy:
Someone needs to explain to me what makes game show hosts all republican dick heads. As far as I can tell all the most popular ones are assholes in real life. Oops did I just answer my own question?
Gvg
I saw all the emergency trucks for that bomb threat. The food kiosks are contracted out to various private companies and the employees are not UF employees and don’t get our pretty generous vacation and sick leave. I had worked here 20 healthy years and had over 1000 hours accumulated even though I took vacations. Even cancer didn’t wipe out all my hours.
Adam L Silverman
@Gvg: Since I have no idea who your are by your nym, did we ever cross paths while I was there?
Miss Bianca
@Major Major Major Major:
Well, DUH! : )
Miss Bianca
@Mnemosyne: Sort of the 21st century equivalent of John Barrymore, who was notorious for calling people out on stage for inapppropriate noise-making from the audience. One of my favorites being when he hid a fish under his coat during a winter cold epidemic in New York which caused fits of coughing in the audience. Apparently he flung the fish into the crowd yelling, “Take THIS, you blasted walruses!”
Miss Bianca
@Adam L Silverman: Ah, thanks for that. How much credibility would there be in the attempt, do you think? (always remembering that nothing a Democrat does by way of crying foul is ever seen as justified).
tybee
@SiubhanDuinne:
so you’re a turtle, too.
Adam L Silverman
@Miss Bianca: I have no idea. Do I think things are close enough and that there was enough voter suppression under color of law and Russian interference in the campaign to argue that with such slim margins, and such a huge difference between the exit polling and the actual results, that an audit should be done in order to ensure every American that regardless of whether they like the outcome, it is legit? I don’t think that’s unreasonable. I also think a counterintelligence and national security investigation into Russian involvement during the campaign is also definitely warranted. But other than you, no one is asking for my opinion on this.
Miss Bianca
@Adam L Silverman:
A gross oversight on the part of No One! Err, someone. Err…something.//
Adam L Silverman
@Miss Bianca: I sent you an email an hour or so back.
Gvg
@Adam L Silverman: not that I know of. I work in Financial Aid. I was a regular counselor from about 94 till about 2003. Since then I have been in the back working Academic progress and Overseas visit students.
Ken
So, It is against the law to call in a false bomb threat.
But this is legal:
Trump claimed “people that have died 10 years ago are still voting,”
Trump claimed there is a massive problem with “illegal immigrants [who] are voting,”
False claims in an election are OK? False bomb threats are not.
I am not endorsing false bomb threats. But the dis-proportionate impact to society should be obvious.
FWIW, in the late 1970’s I worked for a company that made communications equipment. The phone company was the primary customer but NASA was also a customer (products went to the moon). We experienced a series of bomb threats. They would clear the building and many employees would head down the street and have a beer. After a thorough search of the building the company HR would call down to the bar and alert us it was OK to return. Ultimately investigation determined the threats were being called-in from the pay phone in the main hallway!
Miss Bianca
@Adam L Silverman: Can’t reply to email right now for technical reasons – Linux and Iceweasel and Gmail don’t like each other very much – but grinning like a fool over here. Thanks for that.
Sab
@LAO: Hope that works. I drove a couple of 8 week old puppies from Tennessee to Ohio many years ago, and they were so traumatized that they shivered and threw up every time I put them in the car for the rest of their long (16 year) lives. Every dog I have had since would kill a sibling to get a car ride.
Adam L Silverman
@Gvg: Okay, just checking. Didn’t want to seem rude and not say hi to someone I’d met.
Adam L Silverman
@Miss Bianca: no worries
Another Holocene Human
What makes this comical is that Waldo is a forgotten whistle stop that fills up with Mexicans once a year to pick berries. I wonder how she commutes to and from work. There is no bus and Java Hut can only be minimum wage. And yet she couldn’t get even that in Waldo.
She is going to get punished. UFPD closed the road for hours, buses were diverted, classrooms evacuated. Now they need someone to blame.
Another Holocene Human
@Baud: she’s working for a contractor, no benefits and even more downtrodden r than university employees