“He came to the call out of control,” Conley said, adding: “I had 12 officers on the scene, and 11 of them performed according to their training.”
A bystander’s video, which garnered millions of views on YouTube, showed Casebolt shouting and cursing at teenagers who did not appear to be acting violently or aggressively, with Casebolt wrestling some black teenagers to the ground.
Officials said residents had called the police to complain about an out-of-control party and fighting. Some teenagers said they had permission to be at the pool and said residents had harassed them. The incident prompted a protest Monday as police promised to investigate Casebolt’s actions.
Posts published in “U.S.”
Madame Tussauds San Francisco announced Monday that it will debut a wax figure of Laverne Cox, star of Orange Is the New Black and a transgender rights activist, on June 26 during Pride Weekend festivities in the Bay Area. It is the first-ever transgender figure in the museum’s history.
June 2015 is already shaping up to be a banner Pride Month for the transgender community since a Vanity Fair cover introduced Caitlyn Jenner (formerly known as Bruce Jenner) on June 1.
article by Olivia B. Waxman via time.com
Talk about a “senior moment.” 99-year-old Doreetha Daniels is no stranger to chasing her dreams. Dulce recently graduated from the College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita, CA. According to ktla.com, the 99 year-old was inspired by her grandchildren.
Her son said she persevered through her education despite suffering a couple of strokes and losing her driver’s license.
College officials said Daniels struggled sometimes — especially with computer literacy — at a campus where most students are 18 to 24 years old.
But she just worked harder, according to the college. Twice a week before class, she studied, did her homework and worked with tutors at the college’s tutoring center.
She was touted as “one of the most dedicated and hardworking students” in the statistics class, the college said in a news release.
Doreetha stated, “99, here I am. I accomplished what I wanted to do, and this is my dream come true.”
When she was asked what advice she would to younger generations, Daniels said: “Don’t give up. Do it. Don’t let anybody discourage you. Say that, ‘I’m going to do it,’ and do it for yourself.”
article by Courtney Whitaker via madamenoire.com
article by Courtney Whitaker via madamenoire.com
Ah, but when Williams plays her best, no one is better. Putting aside a lingering illness, a mid-match lull and a feisty opponent, Williams won her third title at Roland Garros and 20th Grand Slam singles trophy by beating 13th-seeded Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-2 on Saturday.
The No. 1-seeded Williams took the last six games and added to her 2002 and 2013 championships on the French Open’s red clay. Those go alongside six each from the U.S. Open and Australian Open, and five from Wimbledon.
“When I was a little girl, in California, my father and my mother wanted me to play tennis. And now I’m here, with 20 Grand Slam titles,” the 33-year-old American said in French. “This is very special for me. I haven’t always played very well here, but I’m really happy to win the 20th here.”
Only two players in the century-plus history of Grand Slam tennis have won more majors: Margaret Smith Court with 24, and Steffi Graf with 22.
Williams also stretched her Grand Slam winning streak to 21 matches, following titles at the U.S. Open last September and Australian Open in January. She is the first woman since Jennifer Capriati in 2001 to win the Australian Open and French Open back-to-back and heads to Wimbledon’s grass with a chance to extend a bid to accomplish just about the only thing she hasn’t: win a calendar-year Grand Slam.
“Why not?” said her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou. “That’s probably the most difficult thing to do in tennis. But it’s possible.”
Saturday’s victory did not come easily for Williams, who skipped practice Friday because she was sick, preferring to rest in her Paris apartment. Owner of the most feared serve in women’s tennis, she double-faulted 11 times. She made 25 unforced errors in the second set alone, and 42 in all, 25 more than Safarova, a 28-year-old lefty with a whip-like forehand appearing in her first major final.
Williams got broken serving for the match at 6-5 in the second set, then was down 2-0 in the third. But she kept aiming shots for lines and getting them to go where she wanted, improving to 32-1 in 2015, including 12-0 in three-setters.
“When she was on, she was just serving amazing and going for the returns, pressuring me right away,” said Safarova, who will play in the women’s doubles final Sunday with American Bethanie Mattek-Sands. “It’s just hard to do anything with that.”
When it was over, Williams dropped her racket, threw her head back and lifted her arms into a “V.” In the stands, Mouratoglou held aloft two fingers on his right hand and made a fist with his left, to symbolize “20.”
And to think: Four times in this tournament, Williams dropped the opening set before coming back to win, including in Thursday’s semifinals, when she was lethargic and bothered by the flu. So the question leading into the final was: How healthy would Williams be? She began providing answers from the get-go.
Williams closed the first game with a 120 mph (194 kph) ace. She went up 3-1 by breaking with a cross-court forehand return winner. The first set flew by and even Safarova acknowledged afterward, “It was looking like it will be an easy match.”
At 4-1 for Williams in the second, seemingly all but over, she began to falter. A dull contest, and the Court Philippe Chatrier crowd, came to life. “I just had goose bumps,” Safarova said, “hearing those people cheering.”
Coughing between points, Williams double-faulted twice in a row to get broken for the first time, then double-faulted again to make it 4-all. When Safarova, growing ever more confident, held moments later, she had taken four consecutive games. She stood strong in the tiebreaker and at the outset of the third set, too, displaying the strokes that beat past champions Maria Sharapova and Ana Ivanovic during what Safarova called an “amazing two weeks for me.”
As soon as Safarova made things interesting enough Saturday to perhaps begin thinking about clutching the silver trophy, Williams quickly regained control, as she so often does.
article by Associated Press via latimes.com
Over 100 family and friends came to celebrate the 105th birthday of Lee Wesley Gibson at Maggiano’s Italian Restaurant in Los Angeles on Thursday, May 21st, given by his three daughters, Gwendolyn Reed, Barbara Leverette and Gloria Gibson of Los Angeles.
According to records at the A. Phillip Randolph Museum in Chicago, Gibson is currently the oldest living Pullman Porters. Gibson was immaculately dressed wearing a designer suit and tie, a custom white dress shirt with “105” embroidered on cuffs.
The invocations was given by his pastor, Bishop Craig A. Worsham of People’s Independent Church of Christ in Los Angeles. The guests dined to a sumptuous meal, which included crabcakes, fried zucchini, pecan, apples and grapes garden salad, chicken marsala, tilipia, eggplant, spinach and mash potatoes, fresh fruit and New York cheesecake.
Gibson received a congratulatory letter was received from President Barack Obama, as well as resolutions from Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley Thomas, as well as, President of the Los Angeles City Council Herb Wesson, signed by all members of the council.
Larry Jefferson, a close family friend, sang a soaring, acapella rendition of Happy Birthday prior to Gibson blowing out the candles on his cake. As the afternoon came to a close, Gibson’s daughters, Gloria and Gwendolyn, paid tribute to their father and thanked everyone who helped make the afternoon possible.
Gibson was born on May 21, 1910 in Keatchie, Louisiana. His family moved to Marshall, Texas when he was a young boy. He later married Beatrice A. Gibson in 1927 and they moved their family to Los Angeles, California in 1936.
His beloved wife passed away in 2004 after 76 of marriage. Gibson retired from Union Pacific Railroad in 1974 after serving for 38 years as a Pullman Porter.
Even after retirement, he continued to live life to the fullest. He volunteered at Los Angeles International Airport assisting travelers. Gibson also managed income tax preparation offices for H&R Block. He served as District Director for AARP tax preparation assistance program for seniors.
Gibson has served as church treasurer, deacon, and officer of the church credit union at People’s Independent Church, where he has been a member for over 65 years. Most recently Mr. Gibson was featured in a TV commercial for Dodge entitled “Wisdom,” which honored centenarians. It aired during the 2015 Super Bowl telecast.
Gibson is in great health, taking only a daily vitamin. He enjoys going to church, spending time with family and friends, watching the Los Angeles Dodgers and attending social events. In addition to his three daughters, he is the grandfather of six, great-grandfather of nineteen, great-great-grandfather of twenty-two and the great-great-great-grandfather of three.
article via eurweb.com
Cam Newton’s new contract is historic. Now the Carolina Panthers will hope his play jumps to historic levels. Newton not only got a mega-deal from the Panthers, it’s one of the biggest the NFL has ever seen. Newton will make $67.6 million in the first three years of his five-year, $103.8 million deal, according to multiple reports. The deal became official on Tuesday.
That would be the largest payout over the first three years of a deal in NFL history, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said. USA Today’s Tom Pelissero said Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger held the record at $65 million. The deal includes $60 million in guarantees for injuries, according to reports.
Newton is very talented and his production has been severely underrated throughout his career, but that’s still a heck of a payout based on what Newton has done so far. And it must make the Indianapolis Colts and Seattle Seahawks a little nervous.
Newton isn’t considered at the same level as Colts quarterback Andrew Luck, and hasn’t been a part of as much team success as Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson. So it’s fair to wonder if Luck and Wilson, who entered the NFL a year after Newton did, will get long-awaited contract extensions that will surpass Newton’s deal. That deal certainly sets the bar high.
Newton put up career lows in most statistical categories last season, but he dealt with some major injuries along the way. Still, expectations will increase for Newton now. That’s the nature of such a big deal. And, at least by one measure, there has never been a bigger deal.
article by Frank Schwab via sports.yahoo.com
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture will display objects from a slave ship that sank off the coast of Cape Town in 1794, it announced today.
The artifacts were retrieved this year from the wreck site of a Portuguese slave ship that sank on its way to Brazil while carrying more than 400 enslaved Africans from Mozambique. Objects recovered from the ship, called the São José-Paquete de Africa, include iron ballasts used to weigh the ship down and copper fastenings that held the structure of the ship together.
Lonnie G. Bunch III, the director of the African American history museum, said in a statement that the ship “represents one of the earliest attempts to bring East Africans into the trans-Atlantic slave trade”.
“This discovery is significant because there has never been archaeological documentation of a vessel that foundered and was lost while carrying a cargo of enslaved persons,” he said.
The National Museum of African American History and Culture is currently under construction in Washington and scheduled to be completed in the fall.
The objects from the slave ship are to be on a long-term loan to the Smithsonian from the Iziko Museums of South Africa. Officials have known the site of the wreck for a number of years and suspected the ship was a slave ship, but research only recently confirmed it.
About half of the people on board the ship died when it sank. Others made it to shore but were sold back into slavery, according to the Smithsonian.
Lonnie G. Bunch III, the director of the African American history museum, said in a statement that the ship “represents one of the earliest attempts to bring East Africans into the trans-Atlantic slave trade”.“This discovery is significant because there has never been archaeological documentation of a vessel that foundered and was lost while carrying a cargo of enslaved persons,” he said.
The National Museum of African American History and Culture is currently under construction in Washington and scheduled to be completed in the fall.
The objects from the slave ship are to be on a long-term loan to the Smithsonian from the Iziko Museums of South Africa. Officials have known the site of the wreck for a number of years and suspected the ship was a slave ship, but research only recently confirmed it.
About half of the people on board the ship died when it sank. Others made it to shore but were sold back into slavery, according to the Smithsonian.
article via theguardian.com
On July 5, 1991, Cal Ripken Jr. drove a pitch from the Yankees’ Tim Leary to the center-field wall at the old Yankee Stadium. Roberto Kelly chased after it, crashed into the fence and sprained his right wrist. Two days later, Bernie Williams was roaming center field in the Bronx.
This is how it often happens, an emergency leading to the realization of a dream. Williams’s career unfolded in ways he never could have imagined, with four championships, five All-Star selections and $103 million in career earnings. He never left the Yankees, and on May 24th, the team retired his No. 51.
“Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that a skinny little 17-year-old kid from Puerto Rico could be here this day, in this celebration,” Williams said in his speech, before the Yankees fell to Texas, 5-2, for their 10th loss in 11 games. “I am overwhelmed.”
Williams thanked George M. Steinbrenner, the principal owner who died in 2010, for making him a Yankee and keeping him here. Hal Steinbrenner presented Williams with a custom-made ring, No. 51 surrounded by diamonds on the face.
It is one for the thumb for a player who helped the Yankees win four championship rings from 1996 through 2000. Seven of his teammates in those seasons — Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada, Paul O’Neill, Tino Martinez and David Cone — came back for the night.
Floyd Dent has settled his lawsuit with the City of Inkster for $1.4 million.
However for Dent, who was beaten by Inkster police in a shocking attack caught on video earlier this year, becoming a millionaire is less important than improving police relations with the communities they are supposed to serve and protect.
Given the choice, Dent would rather be broke and never have had this happen. “Money isn’t everything,” he said. “You can’t buy happiness.”
Dent says he hopes something good will come from the incident, a new beginning for Inkster. “The city of Inkster needs to move on and service the great citizens of Inkster,” he said.
The Defenders broke the story, exposing video of police officers punching, kicking, and using a Taser on Dent after a traffic stop. The Defenders also uncovered a second video of police apparently imitating and mocking Dent at the police station instead of immediately him to a hospital for his injuries.
“I’m bleeding and asking for a doctor and they are sitting there joking and high fiving. That’s unreal,” Dent said.
After the video was revealed, prosecutors dropped assault and drug charges against Dent and instead filed charges against William Melendez, the now-former Inkster police officer who punched Dent 16 times in the head.
Inkster also has a new police chief and two other officers were suspended. Now, with this a seven-figure settlement, Dent says a strong message has been sent about police brutality. “Nothing like this will ever happen in Inkster,” Dent said.
Dent’s attorney Greg Rohl said the city stepped up to do the right thing for his client and for Inkster.
“At least some good can come out of all this,” Rohl said. “Floyd is proud of being the person that brought about this change.”
Becoming a millionaire may bring friends and relatives out of the woodwork, but Dent said the money won’t change him.
“There’s going to be be a lot of people ringing my doorbell. You know, long lost friends,” he said. “Do you have any plans for the money? No, not really, I’m going back to work. I miss work. I miss the people I work with.”
The settlement is not the end of this case. Dent still has to testify against Melendez in the criminal case.
Dent said he will tell the truth and let the justice system take care of it from there. He also knows his time in the spotlight is coming to an end, which is fine with him.
“I want people to remember me as an honest person that wasn’t afraid to go against the officers that done this to me and i want people to know that I’m grateful,” he said.
article by Kevin Dietz via clickondetroit.com
A’Ja Booth walked the red carpet into the school gymnasium Tuesday with a shy smile and a new kidney.
It was the 18-year-old senior’s first day back at West Side Academy since a successful transplant five months ago. Ten classmates and a counselor on either side of the red carpet greeted her with confetti while 11th- and 12th-graders seated on bleachers cheered and applauded.
The woman close by her side on the red carpet, the one who linked arms with A’Ja and couldn’t stop smiling, was not just the physical education and health teacher. She was A’Ja’s donor.
They were a perfect match.
“This is what we do as teachers,” said Nadirah Muhammad, 39, who is a wife and the mother of a son. “I did not do it for the accolades. I saw a human being in need and if it were my child, I’d want someone to step forward and help him.”
When it was A’Ja’s turn at the microphone, inside the gym decorated with black and silver balloons, she was overcome with emotion and covered her eyes, crying softly.
The students applauded and shouted, “We love you,” urging her to take her time. “I am really thankful and blessed,” said A’Ja. “I can’t thank her any more than I already have. I look at her as my second mother. She’s a wonderful woman.”
Andrea Ayler, principal of West Side Academy, said she had to push the teacher to go public about her gift to A’Ja. “Mrs. Muhammad did not want a lot of publicity, but I told her we have to tell this story,” Ayler said. “People just don’t do this. I myself would be hesitant. … I’m just so grateful to be principal of a school of educators who love children unconditionally the way Mrs. Muhammad does.”
The donor and recipient came together after Muhammad met A’Ja in her dance class during winter semester last school year. In May 2014, the teacher noticed a book A’Ja had written, “My Dialysis Journey” and asked if she could read it.
The book was A’Ja’s story of being a kidney patient. She described undergoing dialysis for four hours at a time, three days a week, and how she needed a transplant. Muhammad was immediately moved to help.
“She had been in my dance class for about two or three months before I even knew she was on dialysis,” said Muhammad. “Now she’s healthy and it’s just great to see her back in school and graduating in a few weeks.”
In her book, A’Ja wrote: “I’m tired of living day to day like everything’s alright. Being in a chair and hooked up to a machine is not a choice. I have to do it.”
After doctors determined teacher and student were a match, Muhammad’s kidney was removed Dec. 15, 2014, at Henry Ford Hospital and transplanted into A’Ja at Children’s Hospital of Michigan. Nearly seven weeks later, Muhammad returned to work at West Side Academy, an alternative education school. A’Ja, meanwhile, is set to graduate June 8, pending completion of online courses.
Dr. Jason Denny, a surgeon at Henry Ford Health System and the Henry Ford Transplant Institute who performed the transplant, explained that kidney failure requires dialysis, which means a curtailed life. “The best medical treatment for patients is a transplant, and donors can be living or deceased,” he said.
He emphasized the need for more organ donors. According to the National Kidney Foundation, as of April 22, 101,662 U.S. kidney patients were awaiting transplants.
A’Ja’s friend Dakota Crowder, 18, also a senior, said at first he was frightened for her because he had never known anyone who had had a kidney transplant. “I felt relieved when I found out Mrs. Muhammad was the one who was donating the kidney,” he said. “When I found out everything was OK after the transplant, I was happy for A’Ja and Mrs. Muhammad.”
A’Ja said she plans to attend Oakland University and hopes to become a nurse.
“She will have a long and prosperous life taking good care of my kidney,” Muhammad said.
article by Shawn D. Lewis via detroitnews.com