Jorge Luis Toledo, left, and Oscar Olascoaga.
Flagler County Sheriff’s detectives were receiving “a large influx of calls” about stolen catalytic converters. They were also detecting multiple Facebook Marketplace postings by two men announcing: “all catalytic converters get paid cash in hand same day pickup.”
No wonder: catalytic converters can be more valuable contraband than drugs–easier to acquire, easier to sell, and less punishable if caught. There are no aggravating factors that could turn a second degree felony into a first degree felony if the seller is transacting, say, within 1,000 feet of a school or a park. The transactions can just as easily take place
Bird Song of the Day
The Macaulay Library seems to be have hiccups, so I hope this plays!
#COVID19
At reader request, I’ve added this daily chart from 91-DIVOC. The data is the Johns Hopkins CSSE data. Here is the site.
Now flirting with flattening. Looks like the Midwest did it, from the regional data, with now a little help from the Northeast. Presumably we’ll see a travel- and holiday-driven drop immediately after Christmas. I feel I’m engaging in a macabre form of tape-watching, because I don’t think the peak is coming in the next days, or even weeks. Is the virus gathering itself for another leap?