Fish Tank Coral Produced Toxin That Nearly Killed Family

CEDAR PARK, TX (CBS Local) – A Texas mother is speaking out after an attempt to clean a fish tank nearly killed her and her entire family.

Chasity Ahman was cleaning the family fish tank when she noticed a strange substance growing on the decorative coral inside the aquarium. “I noticed these little, cute… button polyps that were new to me,” Ahman said, via KHOU.

After scrubbing off the odd algae, Ahman said she immediately started to feel sick. Unknown to her, the algae had released a dangerous neurotoxin into the air. By the next morning the Ahmans were completely incapacitated and their condition stumped local hospitals. “I thought we were coming down with the flu or something. We couldn’t get out of bed. I couldn’t answer the door. I couldn’t force myself out of bed.”

Texas mother warning others after aquarium coral nearly kills her family https://t.co/72JtiRQlHx pic.twitter.com/8EZ6jSmKaa

— KHOU 11 News Houston (@KHOU) April 28, 2018

According to local saltwater livestock experts, colorful coral arrangements known as palythoa can be deadly for owners who don’t know how to properly take care of them. “When that stuff becomes airborne, it’s usually caused by somebody scraping,” said Austin Aqua-Dome manager Hunter Leber. “I would suggest, really, to leave them alone for the most part.”

Ahman and her family reportedly spent two days in the hospital. The palythoa toxin also killed five of the family’s fish.

In late March, 10 people in Great Britain were hospitalized after being exposed to “palytoxins” that were released by a man cleaning his fish tank. 27-year-old Chris Matthews reportedly removed his decorative aquarium rocks from the tank and unknowingly exposed his family and firefighters to “incredibly lethal” fumes produced by the coral. Those patients were all treated and released after suffering flu-like symptoms and eye irritation.

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‘Empire’ Actor Acquitted Of Domestic Violence Charge

CHICAGO (AP) — An actor on the television show “Empire” has been acquitted of domestic battery in Chicago.

Morocco Omari took the stand during a two-day trial that ended with his acquittal Friday. Jurors deliberated for less than two hours. He says he “could never beat up a woman” and that his acquittal is like “an albatross lifted from my neck.”

Omari was arrested in April 2017 after a 24-year-old woman who identified herself as Omari’s girlfriend told police officers that he had pushed her to the ground during an argument, causing scratches on her neck and chest.

Omari described the aftermath of the allegations as “like a hurricane wiping out your house.”

Omari played FBI Agent Tariq Cousins on the Fox TV show. The character was killed off last season.

(© Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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This Week In Golf: Horschel, Piercy Go Low Sunday, Win Zurich Classic

By Sam McPherson

The Zurich Classic of New Orleans and its unique team format once again provided loads of excitement for golf fans on Sunday. Billy Horschel and Scott Piercy carded a fourth-round best 67 in the alternate-shot format to move up from fifth place and claim the PGA Tour title at the TPC Louisiana course in Avondale. The duo carded five birdies in the first 11 holes and then hung on to post their 22-under winning score by making seven straight pars to close out the final round.

For their winning efforts, Horschel and Piercy each earned $1.04 million and 400 FedExCup points, but the win does not count toward golf’s world rankings. Horschel also won the 2013 Zurich Classic when it was a normal Tour stop with traditional single-golfer scoring. This is the second year of the event’s unique team format, where golfers partner up and shoot best ball on Thursday and Saturday, combined with alternate-shot golf on Friday and Sunday.

The winning duo started the fourth round in fifth place, trailing third-round leaders Scott Brown and Kevin Kisner, who shot 77 on Sunday to fall into a tie for 15th place. Michael Kim and Andrew Putnam started Sunday in second place, but they shot a 76 to end up tied with Brown and Kisner. Meanwhile, Horschel and Piercy took advantage, as did second-place finishers Jason Dufner and Pat Perez, who carded a 68 in the fourth round. Louis Oosthuizen and Charles Schwartzel finished third.

The alternate-shot rounds were volatile on both Friday and Sunday, as both teams that led after Thursday’s best-ball round struggled on Friday in the alternate-shot format. After shooting 60 in best ball on Friday, Lucas Glover and Chez Reavie posted a 75 to drop out of contention, while the team of Zecheng Dou and Xinjun Zhang carded an 80 in the second round to miss the cut entirely.

Kim and Putnam held the second-round lead at 13-under after shooting a 69 on Friday, while Brown and Kisner were one shot back. Both those teams had posted 62 on Thursday in the first round, and both teams had solid third rounds as well, with Brown and Kisner carding a 64 on Saturday, and Kim and Putnam managing a 66 score.

>>More: This Week In Golf

Next On The Tee: Wells Fargo Championship

The PGA Tour heads to Charlotte, NC, this week for the Wells Fargo Championship at the Quail Hollow Club. Brian Harman is the defending champion, and the field is loaded with top players, as many golfers want to tune up and get their games right before the Players Championship the following week in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL. Harman will have a tough time winning this event for the second year in a row.

Among the notables playing in the Wells Fargo event are recent major championship winners Jason Day, Jason Dufner, Martin Kaymer, Brooks Kopeka, Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson, Patrick Reed, and Adam Scott. If that wasn’t enough to pack the field full of champions, there are 37 Tour winners from the last two seasons playing as well. Also, Tiger Woods is teeing it up at Quail Hollow after a four-week absence from PGA Tour play. Woods won this event in 2007.

The event, played at Eagle Point Golf Club in Wilmington, NC, last year, returns to Quail Hollow, which hosted the PGA Championship in 2017. Four times in the last six Wells Fargo Championship tournaments held at Quail Hollow, a playoff was needed to decide the winner. George Cobb designed the original course, which opened in 1961, but Arnold Palmer modified several of the holes in the mid-1980s, before Tom Fazio executed re-designs in both 1997 and 2003. Quail Hollow is scheduled to host the Presidents Cup in 2021.

The Quail Hollow Club course plays 7,442 yards long and is a par 72.

Favorites: Rickie Fowler, Lucas Glover, Rory McIlroy

Players to Watch: Phil Mickelson, Pat Perez, Andrew Putnam

Sam McPherson is a freelance writer covering baseball, football, basketball, golf and fantasy sports for CBS Local. He also is an Ironman triathlete and certified triathlon coach. Follow him on Twitter @sxmcp, because he’s quite prolific despite also being a college English professor and a certified copy editor.

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What We Learned From The First Round Of The NBA Playoffs

Ryan Mayer

After two weeks and several extended series, the first round of the NBA playoffs is behind us. The field has been whittled down to eight and, in the process, we learned quite a bit about each of the teams left standing. Two games from the second round have already been played, but before we get any further, let’s take a quick look at the biggest lessons we learned from Round 1.

Rockets, Warriors Clash Is Inevitable

We all knew this before the playoffs started, but the Steph Curry injury made some folks waver a bit on the Warriors, understandably. Then Golden State went out in the first round and just blitzed the Spurs, with an average margin of victory of 14 points in the five-game gentleman’s sweep. The Rockets were even more convincing. After a close Game 1 against Minnesota (104-101), the next three wins were by at least 18 points or more with one road loss thrown in.

The advanced stats tell even further just how far above the other teams in their conference both teams are. The teams are 1-2 in Net Rating, with the Warriors first at 12.6 and the Rockets second at 8.8. The order is flipped in offensive rating, with the Rockets posting a 112.8 mark and the Warriors posting a 112.1. Both teams are two points ahead of New Orleans, the next closest team in that metric, and they’re 4-8 points clear in Net Rating, with the Pelicans again being the next closest Western Conference team at 4.0. Since the beginning of the season we knew these teams were likely on a collision course. The first round only confirmed what we’ve suspected.

Sixers Are A Legitimate Threat In The East

Full disclosure: I’m from Philadelphia originally and grew up a Sixers fan. That said, the Sixers’ gentleman’s sweep of the Miami Heat was just a step below the dominance shown by the Rockets and Warriors. We mentioned Net Rating for those two teams, well, the Sixers are third in that category, checking in a 8.0, just 0.8 behind Houston. Their defense ranks second, behind only the Warriors in defensive rating at 101.6, and the offensive numbers aren’t far behind, ranking fifth in the playoffs (109.6) and second to only Toronto (110.2) in the East.

It hasn’t just been the starters either. Philly’s bench has posted the highest Net Rating of the playoffs at 9.7, nearly a full four points ahead of the Warriors group. The Sixers are led by young stars Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid, but J.J. Redick (20 PPG, 35% 3PT), Marco Bellinelli (16.6 PPG, 36.7% 3PT) and Ersan Ilyasova (10.8 PPG) have all been key contributors. Those guys are 33, 31, and 30 respectively with a combined 174 games of playoff experience among them. This isn’t to say the Sixers are the favorite in a conference that still goes through LeBron, but Philly is certainly a threat.

Credit: Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

LeBron Needs Help Or Cavs Are In Trouble

In Cleveland’s seven-game war with Indiana, James averaged 41.1 minutes per game, while putting up 34.4 points, 10.7 rebounds and 7.7 assists per outing. The man is 33 years old, in his 15th NBA season, and has been to seven straight NBA Finals. He’s already got a lot of miles on him, and expecting him to continue to produce at that kind of clip is insane.

We knew the Cavaliers would need time to figure things out after trading nearly half the team at the deadline in February. But the supporting cast didn’t give much, well, support in this series. Kevin Love was second in points per game at 11.4. Nobody else averaged double-digit points. Go ahead and read that last sentence again.

An even more alarming picture, the Cavs bench is dead last, 16th, out of 16 playoff teams in Net Rating at minus-13.4. George Hill struggling with back spasms and missing three games didn’t help, but none of the supporting guys shone in this series.

Brad Stevens Continues To Be A Magician

The Celtics could not have been more banged up for their series against the Bucks. Okay, I guess technically that’s not true, they could have had a few more guys get hurt but still. Kyrie and Hayward were already out heading into the series. In addition, Marcus Smart was also out for most of the series, playing in just three of the seven contests.

Then you look at the Net Rating, where the Celtics check in at minus-1.6, while the Bucks, the team Boston just played, was plus-1.6. Yet the Celtics won in seven games. Having home court helped, as the Celtics won every home game, but the fact that Stevens was able to coach the C’s past Giannis and the Bucks with a bunch of (good, not great yet) young guys and Al Horford/Marcus Morris is crazy. The series with the Sixers is fascinating, because of the adjustments and game plans I’m waiting to see Stevens put to work against Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid.

Jrue Holiday’s Introduction To The National Consciousness

Holiday is in his 9th year in the league, and he has been a solid-to-above-average point guard for both the Sixers and Pelicans. He was an All-Star in 2013, but most folks outside of his local market wouldn’t necessarily consider him a star. In his previous playoff appearances with Philly (2011-2012), he was solid, but in his only other playoff experience with the Pelicans (2014-15), he played just three games, struggling with injuries.

In the first round series against the Trail Blazers, Holiday lit it up, averaging 24 points, six assists and just under four rebounds per game. He’s played a different role this year in New Orleans, playing more off-ball with Rajon Rondo in the fold, and he’s flourished. The first round was just a continuation of that trend. While he struggled against the Warriors in Game 1 with just 11 points on 4-of-14 shooting, it’s clear that Holiday is ready for the national audience to know his name. The Pelicans tend to just be talked about as Anthony Davis and a bunch of guys, Holiday is changing that.

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Sprint And T-Mobile CEOs Promise Merger Won’t Raise Prices

(CNN Money) — The CEOs of T-Mobile and Sprint are confident that their proposed merger will get approval from US regulators and create jobs — and that it won’t raise prices for wireless subscribers.

T-Mobile’s John Legere and Sprint’s Marcelo Claure told CNN’s Richard Quest on Monday that the merger of the two companies would make it easier for them to build out a national, high-speed 5G network before their rivals Verizon and AT&T do.

“The country needs 5G,” Claure said. He said the United States can’t fall further behind China and South Korea, which are ahead in deploying 5G technology.

Legere stressed that the deal won’t harm consumers because T-Mobile has a reputation for offering low-cost plans. And he said the combined company plans to invest $40 billion to build out its 5G network, which should create thousands of jobs.

“Prices are going down and jobs are going up,” Legere said.

Claure told Quest that he had the “simple realization that both companies needed each other” in order to build a 5G network. And Legere added that Claure called him to jump-start merger talks between the two, which have been on and off for several years.

During that time, the two CEOs have often taken potshots at each other on Twitter, part of the intense competition for wireless subscribers. But Legere and Claure now seem more comfortable jabbing rivals AT&T and Verizon instead.

Related: Sprint’s Claure and T-Mobile’s Legere are CEOs with a history of attacking each other

Legere poked fun at Verizon’s purchases of AOL and Yahoo, which it combined into a subsidiary it calls Oath. Verizon said in its most recent earnings report that revenue for Oath fell in the first quarter from last year’s fourth quarter because of lower ad spending.

“That really worked out, hasn’t it?” Legere cracked, adding that T-Mobile and Sprint “don’t feel the need to own and curate the content of what you watch.”

Legere argued “that regulatory approval prospects have never been better” — which seems like a curious thing to say considering that the Trump administration has sued to block AT&T’s proposed acquisition of Time Warner, the parent company of CNN.

But Legere said the time is right for a deal because there’s much more competition in the wireless world these days. He noted that cable giants Comcast and Charter are now competing for the same customers as Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile.

“The industry we work in is changing,” Legere said.

Quest’s full interview with Legere and Claure from the New York Stock Exchange will air on the Quest Express and Quest Means Business shows on CNNi later Monday.

The-CNN-Wire & © 2018 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.

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2 Injured, Including Firefighter, In Hollywood Park Fire

CHICAGO (CBS) — One person was seriously injured, and a firefighter suffered a shoulder injury, in an apartment fire Monday morning in the Hollywood Park neighborhood.

The fire started around 9:15 a.m. on the third floor of a 3-story building near Spaulding and Bryn Mawr.

Still & Box at 5621 N. Spaulding has been struck; resulted in a civilian transport to local hospital in serious condition and 1 department member with minor injury transported for evaluation.

— Chicago Fire Media (@CFDMedia) April 30, 2018

One person was pulled out of the building, and was taken to the hospital in serious condition.

A firefighter suffered a shoulder injury, and was taken to the hospital for evaluation.

The fire was extinguished by about 10:15 a.m.

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Drama At The Border: ‘Caravan’ Kept From Entering U.S.

TIJUANA, Mexico (CBS) — After traveling through Mexico with great fanfare for a month under the Trump administration’s watchful eye, nearly 200 Central American migrants intending to seek political asylum in the United States were stopped in their tracks when border inspectors said a crossing facility didn’t have enough space to accommodate them.

Mr. Trump vowed last week to “stop” the caravan while Cabinet members said they would deliver a swift response. The asylum seekers held firm, setting up a possible showdown.

In an anticlimactic twist, about 50 asylum seekers were allowed past a gate controlled by Mexican officials to walk across a long bridge but were stopped at the entrance to the U.S. inspection facility at the other end. They were allowed to wait outside the building, technically on Mexican soil, without word of when U.S. officials would let them claim asylum.

Another 50 or so camped on blankets and backpacks in Tijuana, outside the Mexican side of the crossing, prohibited from even getting close to the U.S. inspection building.

The asylum-seekers began the day with anticipation, traveling in red-and-white school buses under police escort to a beachfront rally in Tijuana, where a steel fence juts out into the Pacific Ocean. They sang the Honduran national anthem, and supporters on the San Diego side of the fence waved a Honduran flag.

After a final briefing from lawyers and minutes before they were to begin a short walk to the border crossing, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan announced that the San Ysidro border crossing, the nation’s busiest, had “reached capacity” for people without legal documents and that asylum-seekers may need to wait in Mexico temporarily.

Mr. Trump has commented frequently on the caravan since it started in Mexico on March 25 near the Guatemala border and headed north to Tijuana. His broadsides came as his administration vowed to end what officials call “legal loopholes” and “catch-and-release” policies that allow people requesting asylum to be released from custody into the U.S. while their claims make their way through the courts, which can take years.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions has called the caravan “a deliberate attempt to undermine our laws and overwhelm our system.” Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said asylum claims will be resolved “efficiently and expeditiously” and warned that anyone making false claims could be prosecuted.

The administration’s stern warnings left organizers in disbelief that border inspectors weren’t ready for them.

“They have been well aware that a caravan is going to arrive at the border,” Nicole Ramos, an attorney working on behalf of caravan members, said at a news conference. “The failure to prepare and failure to get sufficient agents and resources is not the fault of the most vulnerable among us. We can build a base in Iraq in under a week. We can’t process 200 refugees. I don’t believe it.”

The San Ysidro border inspection facility can hold about 300 people, according to Pete Flores, Customs and Border Protection’s San Diego field office director, suggesting the bottleneck may be short-lived. The agency processed about 8,000 asylum cases from October through February, or about 50 a day.

Asylum-seekers are typically held for up to three days at the border and then turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. If they pass an asylum officer’s initial screening, they may be detained or released into the U.S. with ankle monitors.

Asylum seekers didn’t appear to be thrown off the by the delay.

Wendi Yaneri Garcia said she was confident she will be released while her asylum case is pending because she is traveling alone with her 2-year-old son, who has been sick. She said that police in her hometown of Atlantida, Honduras, jailed her for protesting construction of a hydroelectric plant and that she received death threats after being released.

“All I want is a place where I can work and raise my son,” the 36-year-old said.

Elin Orrellana, a 23-year-old pregnant woman from El Salvador, said she is fleeing the violent MS-13 street gang, a favorite target of both Sessions and Mr. Trump because of their brutal killings in communities in the United States. She said her older sister had been killed by the gang in El Salvador, so she is attempting to join other family members in the Kansas City area.

“Fighting on is worth it,” she said as she camped out for chilly night outside the border crossing.

Heather Crone, of advocacy group Show Up for Racial Justice, said she’s found 80 people across the U.S. who agreed to sponsor caravan members if they’re released while their petitions are pending.

U.S. immigration lawyers told the asylum-seekers they face possible separation from their children and detention for many months, and said they want to prepare them for the worst possible outcome.

“We are the bearers of horrible news,” Los Angeles lawyer Nora Phillips said during a break from legal workshops for the migrants at three Tijuana locations where about 20 lawyers gave free information and advice. “That’s what good attorneys are for.”

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