Slider Image 1 Content
‘Irate’ restaurant worker pulls gun on employees
An Upstate restaurant worker who found out his schedule had changed got rate Monday morning and pulled a gun on the other employees, sparking a school lockdown, police said. Anderson Police Chief Jim Stewart released the police report showing Gary Lamar Brown, 44, of Anderson , was charged with simple assault, second-degree assault and battery, three counts of pointing a firearm at another person and unlawful carry of a weapon. The report said police responded about 9:45 am to a call about a hostile employee who had pulled a gun on other employees at Mission Grill on Greenville Street. The report said Brown was mad because his work hours had been cut, according to employees. Employees told police Brown started scaring and threatening other employees before he left the store. Brown came back to the store 20 minutes later and was told, because of his behavior earlier in the morning, he was fired, the general manager said. That’s when Brown became angry, pulled a pistol from his waist and started ed threatened everyone, the report said. The general manager told police he had just come out of the restroom when he heard a loud argument in the dining room and saw Brown pointing a gun at other employees. Brown hit one of the employees in the back of the head with the pistol, according to the report. Brown also threw a laptop at them as well as damaging a light above the counter the employees were standing behind, according to the report. The general manager said he went to his car and got his concealed carry handgun and that he and another employee blocked Brown from the rest of the employees. The hurt employee continued talking to Brown while the general manager helped get the other employees to the back freezer , according to the report. Brown left the restaurant on a bicycle and was later arrested at his home on Babb Street, according to the report. McCants Middle School was put on lockdown, according to the report. According to Kyle Newton, with Anderson School District 5, several other schools were put on into a “holding pattern” during the incident. The employee hit with the gun was checked out by emergency medical services but was not taken to the hospital, the report said. Investigators said the whole incident inside the restaurant was captured on security video.
ANDERSON, SC —
… Read More An Upstate restaurant worker who found out his schedule had changed got rate Monday morning and pulled a gun on the other employees, sparking a school lockdown, police said.
Anderson Police Chief Jim Stewart released the police report showing Gary Lamar Brown, 44, of Anderson, was charged with simple assault, second-degree assault and battery, three counts of pointing a firearm at another person and unlawful carry of a weapon.
The report said police respondents about 9:45 am to a call about a hostile employee who had pulled a gun on other employees at Mission Grill on Greenville Street.
The report said Brown was mad because his work hours had been cut, according to employees.
Employees told police Brown started scaring and threatening other employees before he left the store.
Brown came back to the store 20 minutes later and was told, because of his behavior earlier in the morning, he was fired, the general manager said.
That’s when Brown became angry, pulled a pistol from his waist and started threatening everyone, the report said.
The general manager told police he had just come out of the restroom when he heard a loud argument in the dining room and saw Brown pointing a gun at other employees.
Brown hit one of the employees in the back of the head with the gun, according to the report.
Brown also threw a laptop at them as well as damaging a light above the counter the employees were standing behind, according to the report.
The general manager said he went to his car and got his concealed carry handgun and that he and another employee blocked Brown from the rest of the employees.
The hurt employee continued talking to Brown while the general manager helped get the other employees to the back freezer, according to the report.
Brown left the restaurant on a bicycle and was later arrested at his home on Babb Street, according to the report.
McCants Middle School was put on lockdown, according to the report.
According to Kyle Newton, with Anderson School District 5, several other schools were put on into a “holding pattern” during the incident.
The employee hit with the gun was checked out by emergency medical services but was not taken to the hospital, the report said.
Investigators said the whole incident inside the restaurant was captured on security video.
Pepsi wants you to drink soda mixed with milk this holiday season
New York
CNN Business
—
‘Tis the season to mix milk into your soda. According to Pepsi, however.
Pepsi launched a Thursday campaign encouraging customers to try the combination and use the hashtag #PilkandCookies (as in Pepsi plus milk) to showcase their Santa-friendly concoctions. Those who participate in the online challenge running through Christmas Day will have the chance to win cash.
“Combining Pepsi and milk has long been a secret hack among Pepsi fans,” said Todd Kaplan, Pepsi’s chief marketing officer, in a statement about the campaign.
Pepsi is now publicizing the mix as its spin on “dirty soda,” a popular TikTok trend that combines soda with syrup and cream. Companies like PepsiCo (PEP) pay attention to what’s happening on TikTok, and often look for ways to get in on trends as a way to stay relevant to young consumers.
“With the rise of the ‘dirty soda’ trend on TikTok and throughout the country, we thought Pilk and Cookies would be a great way to unapologetically celebrate the holidays,” said Kaplan.
To make the campaign even trendier, Pepsi tapped Lindsay Lohan, star of the Netflix (NFLX) Christmas movie “Falling for Christmas,” to promote the combination.
Pepsi is recommending a number of recipes for those who want to go beyond just Pepsi and milk, perhaps hoping to launch their own viral combination.
A handful of those recipes include the Naughty & Ice, which is Pepsi with one cup of whole milk, one tablespoon of heavy cream and one tablespoon of vanilla cream, plus Pepsi; the Cherry on Top combines Pepsi Wild Cherry with half a cup of 2% milk, two tablespoons of heavy cream and two tablespoons of caramel creamer; and the Snow Fl(oat) is Pepsi Zero Sugar and half a cup of oat milk with four tablespoons of caramel creamer.
The soda cocktails are relatively new to TikTok — but they have been popular for years in Utah, which has a high concentration of Mormons, some of whom abstain from alcohol and hot beverages.
TikTok discovered the drink after Gen-Z pop star Olivia Rodrigo posted a photo of herself holding a Swig cup in December last year, sending fans in search of answers about the Utah-based chain. Swig, which calls itself “home of the original dirty soda,” has been around since 2010 and serves a wide array of the carbonated mash-ups.
The trend quickly took off, Eater reported in April, saying “TikTok is now repeated with more than 700,000 mentions of the #dirtysoda hashtag, most of which accompany videos of creators showing viewers how to make their own dirty sodas at home.”
Viral food sensations have inspired companies to capitalize on trends, sometimes even creating new products based on what they see.
In September 2020, for example, Dunkin’ partnered with TikTok star Charli D’Amelio on a limited-time drink called The Charli — cold brew with whole milk and three pumps of caramel swirl — inspired by D’Amelio’s favorite order. On launch day, Dunkin’ hit a record for daily active app users. And last year, Starbucks experimented with selling the TikTok-popular Iced Matcha Latte with Chai on social platforms.
Kraft Heinz (KHC) this year launched Dip & Crunch, a burger dipping sauce packaged with “salty potato crunchers.” The idea is for people to dip a burger or sandwich into the sauce, then into the crunchers, and then take a bite — something that had apparently been trending on TikTok with some loving the trend and others questioning it.
“For us to hear that debate online, then bring it to life, is an example of how we’re listening,” Sanjiv Gajiwala, then Kraft Heinz North America’s chief growth officer, told Fast Company in April. Now, you can find videos of TikTok influencers testing out the product in ads, and others reviewing it for their followers.
Downtown Outdoor Drinking District Expanding And Reproducing
The BORO is not only growing, it is having offspring.
The BORO is the “social district” in downtown Greensboro where it is legal for people to walk down the sidewalk with a BORO approved alcoholic beverage. There are a lot of rules including that the alcoholic beverage must be in an approved cup, but basically it allows someone to buy an alcoholic beverage in one establishment and walk down the sidewalk to another business to browse or shop. An alcoholic beverage from one establishment licensed to sell alcohol cannot be taken into another licensed establishment but can be taken into stores and shops or simply consumed while walking around.
The ordinance establishing The BORO was passed by the Greensboro City Council in December 2021 and went into effect in March 2022. The BORO evidently is so popular that on the agenda for the Tuesday, Dec. 6 meetings is the approval of an ordinance that not only expands the boundaries of The BORO in downtown Greensboro but also establishes another social district along State Street in northeast Greensboro.
The proposed downtown social district boundaries appear to make a lot more sense than the current boundaries. Center City Park and the Stephen Tanger Center for the Performing Arts are both excluded from the current social district while LeBauer Park and the Greensboro Cultural Center are included. So, under the current ordinance, if someone buys an approved alcoholic beverage on North Elm Street and walks east on Friendly Avenue to the Cultural Center that is legal, but if they take a few more steps north and walk through Center City Park that is illegal .
The ordinance being presented to the City Council for consideration includes changing the language so that Greensboro can have more than one social district and proposes adding a social district along the business district on State Street.
It seems likely that other areas where there are establishments that serve alcohol within walking distance of each other would also be applying for social district status in the future.