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John Barnett, 62, was in the process of testifying against the Boeing Company regarding the aircraft manufacturer’s manufacturing processes when he was found dead in South Carolina with what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Now, though, a family friend of Barnett’s says that, before he died, he warned her that if he were found dead, it would not be the result of a suicide.

Jennifer, who did not share her surname, spoke to local ABC news affiliate WPDE about a concerning conversation she says she had with Barnett. She alleges that Barnett came by to visit her when she needed help, and they began to speak about his upcoming deposition in Charleston, South Carolina.

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Thursday's A-train mayhem -- which also appears to include a stabbing of the assailant by a third-party -- was captured on cell phone video. It shows 36-year-old Dajuan Robinson, a black man, standing and hovering menacingly over seated 32-year-old Younece Obuad, and issuing a stream of threats and racial hatredthat spanned minutes...

"I'll beat you up...fuck you...fuck your kind...fuck your race...do something about it..."

The tirade includes verbiage that indicates Robinson was motivated at least in part by anti-migrant bias. "You think you're gonna beat up cops?" he asked repeatedly. As the New York Post notes, a woman in the video can be heard saying, "He thinks you’re a migrant, he thinks you’re an immigrant," likely referring to the incident in which a migrant mob attacked two cops in Times Square in January.

Eventually, Obuad stands up and takes a fighting stance as passengers start moving to another section of the moving subway car. He and Robinson trade blows, before the larger Robinson pins up to a seat. At that point, an unidentified woman appears to stab Robinson in the back...as blood can be seen starting to drench his shirt after she struck his lower back and withdrew.

After another man breaks the two up and Obuad stands nearby, Robinson yells at him and the female intervener, says "I got you," and retrieves a gun from his jacket. That sends the passengers -- including the helpful videographer -- into a panicked flight to the other end of the car. As the train reaches a station, a single shot rings out. After a brief pause -- and as terrified riders race through the door -- three more shots are heard.

Police say Obuad disarmed Robinson and shot him in the head with his own gun, a .38-caliber Ruger. He's now hospitalized in critical but stable condition, having received two stabs to the lower back and shots to the side of his neck, his right temple, and the side of his chest. His eye was ruptured by the temple shot. Police say the two didn't know each other.

A review of subway system video shows Robinson entered the station without paying. “If you want to keep the system safe, the first thing you have to do is keep bad people out of the system who don’t pay — this is a perfect example to talk about it,’’ NYPD Deputy Inspector Tarik Sheppard said Friday.

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Hertz CEO Stephen Scherr resigns after EV push goes bust

Hertz CEO Stephen Scherr stepping down March 31

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Seattle Law Mandating Higher Delivery Driver Pay Is a Disaster

Just two weeks after the law went into effect, Seattleites had to contend with $26 coffees and $32 sandwiches.

In 2022, Seattle's City Council passed an ordinance mandating a minimum earnings floor for app-based food delivery drivers in the city. The law finally went into effect in January 2024, but so far the main result has been customers deleting their delivery apps en masse, food orders plummeting, and driver pay cratering.


The ordinance, part of a legislative package called "PayUp," was passed under the banner of protecting gig workers. By setting a compensation floor for app-based delivery drivers based on miles driven and amount of time worked, the ordinance operates as a (supremely complicated) minimum wage.

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Uber, Lyft to leave Minneapolis due to minimum wage law

Minimum wage law takes effect on May 1

Uber and Lyft said they will stop operating in Minneapolis after the city council voted to overrule the mayor's veto of a minimum wage law impacting rideshare drivers.

Lyft said it is "shutting down operations in Minneapolis" when the law takes effect on May 1. Uber said it will stop operating its transportation network in the entire metro area, including the airport, that same day.

The ordinance, which faced fierce pushback from the ride-share industry, establishes minimum driver pay of $1.40 per mile and $0.51 per minute, or a minimum of $5 per trip, whichever is greater.

The city council's goal over the past 18 months has been to ensure that driver rates are equivalent to the local minimum wage, which rose to $15.57 per hour in January.

The city council voted 10-3 on Thursday to override the mayor's veto.

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