By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

An armed Pennsylvania man shot by a Secret Service agent near the White House was sentenced to eight months in prison Tuesday.

Jesse A. Olivieri, 31, was approaching a White House guard booth when he was shot.

The Washington Post reports that the man will be allowed to serve his sentence at a hospital, where he is still recovering from the wound and needs to get treatment for mental illness.

It’s still unclear why Olivieri approached the White House with a silver .22-caliber Ruger handgun, but mental issues appeared to play a role, according to court record.

“He does not seem to have been motivated by a desire to harm others,” Assistant U.S. Attorney John Crabb Jr. wrote in a memo about the government’s sentencing recommendation.

New Jersey Transit train, via Wikipedia

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

The investigation into the New Jersey Transit train crash hit a new phase after investigators reached the train’s lead car to retrieve data recorders.

It was a big break after investigators discovered that the data recorder in the rear of the train had malfunctioned.

“Now is when we get very, very busy,” Jim Southworth, investigator in charge for the transit safety agency, said, the USA Today reports.  

Recovered from the front of the train were the data and video recorders that “appears to be in good shape,” Southworth said Tuesday.

It still wasn’t clear whether the devices were working at the time of the crash, which killed one woman and injured more than 100.

“We expect the recorders will be able to provide the investigators with speed information, throttle positions, braking system information, and about 100 other parameters, as well as a video image of the accident,” Southworth said.

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

Just two months before Jack Bennett became special agent in charge of the FBI’s San Francisco division in May, the 52-year-old played a key role in accessing the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone.

Bennet was working at the FBI’s computer investigation lab in Quantico, Va., when the bureau received help from an outside company to hack into the iPhone, the Associated Press reports. 

“There wasn’t high fives, and there weren’t people singing down the hallways,” he recalled. “It was very much business. ‘OK, let’s move forward to the next steps. Let’s get on the phone. What do we need to do to purchase the tool?'”

Bennett, who has nearly 30 years of experience in law enforcement, has battled drug smuggling operations for the DEA before tackling child sex crimes and animal rights extremists for the FBI.

“The U.S. government sometimes loses sight of what is important to corporations … and privacy is incredibly important,” Bennett said during a recent interview at his office.

Fentanyl tablets

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

The DEA’s fight against painkiller abuse has prompted the agency to reduce opioid manufacturing by 25% in 2017.

The cutback will affect drugs such as fentanyl, morphine, oxycodone and hydrocodone, the Verge reports. 

The good news is, fewer prescriptions are being written for opioids as doctors are becoming more aware of painkiller abuse and its link to heroin use.

The abuse of heroin and opioids are a major reason that 2014 was the deadliest year on record for drug overdoses, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 60% of the overdoses involved an opioid.

Opioids also have become the second most popular drug for non-medical use after marijuana.

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Kratom pill, via Wikipedia.

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

Under mounting public pressure, the DEA has delayed the ban on Kratom, a Southeast Asian tree leaf that is said to be helpful for pain relief and heroin abuse.

The DEA had planned to name the herb as an illegal Schedule 1 substance, which would have placed it in the same category as heroin.

Despite the delay, Kratom sellers and users and some lawmakers are worried the ban will still happen, KTVU reports.

Owner of Twisted Thistle Apothicaire in Berkeley said Kratom is very popular and effective.

“We didn’t get into this business for Kratom. Kratom found us,” said owner Ethan Franc.

The DEA claims Kratom is addictive and has hallucinogenic properties and therefore should be banned.

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

The federal investigation into the crash of a commuter train in Hoboken, N.J., has failed so far to uncover what went wrong because of a lack of evidence.

The New Kersey Transit train crashed into the wall of a station, killing one person and injuring more than 100 others.

Investigators said one of the train’s data recorder was not working at the time of the crash. The second data recorder is trapped in the front of the train, and it’s too dangerous to retrieve the device at this time, McClatchy reports. 

Also at the front of the train is a forward-facing camera that has also been inaccessible.

The NTSB has used a drone to survey the crash scene, but it wasn’t helpful in determining a cause.

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