CELEBRATING
BLACK HISTORY MONTH
News Observer Los Angeles
Volume 34 Number 16
Observer Group Newspapers of Southern California
Frank Robinson More Than a Pioneer By Earl Heath Contributing Sports Writer After glancing at headlines in the passing of baseball Hall of Famer Frank Robinson it appeared many of his accomplishments were not as important. He was born on in Beaumont, Texas and moved to Oakland, California where he grew up. He attended McClymons High and was a teammate of Basketball Hall of Famer Bill Russell. His first major league season he won the Rookie of The Year award in 1956 while playing for the Reds. He set a rookie record with 38 home runs. He won baseballs Triple Crown in 1966 while playing for the Orioles. To this day he is the only player to win the MVP in both leagues. The Reds in 1961 and Orioles in 1966. He led his Orioles team to a World Series wins in 1966 and was named Series MVP and in 1970. His Career spanned through 21 years and three decades, He batted .300 nine times. He hit 30 homeruns 11 times. During that time he hit 541 home runs which at the time was fourth on the All-Time list trailing Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron and Willie Mays. While playing for the Cleveland Indians he was named player/manager- retiring in 1976, becoming the first African American Manager in the Major Leagues. He went on to manage the San Francisco Giants, Montreal Expos, Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles. Robinson was a first-ballot Hall of Famer. His number 20 was retired by three teams, Cincinnati, Cleveland and Baltimore. He also has a statue in front of each cities ball park. He was disappointed at the smaller number or Blacks in Baseball. He was a big supports of MLB’s RBI (Revitalizing Baseball in the Inner City) program. He was good friends with RBI founder, John Young. Robinson attended as many RBI functions as possible including clinics and special dinners. He attended Xavier University in Cincinnati. He witnessed discriminatory real estate practices and became a speaker on racial issues. He has a beautiful wife in Barbara Ann whom he married in 1961. They had two children and lived in Los Angeles. He was a Laker season seat holder for several years. President George W. Bush presented him with the Medal of Freedom in 2005 and stated that, “In the game we love few names will ever command the respect and esteem as the name of Frank Robinson. Laura and I are grateful for all that Frank did for our Nation.”
Maryland Delegate Loses Leadership Post for Racial Slur
Judge Allows Smollett to Travel
Frank Robinson (left) shares a moment with Joe Morgan (center) and Don Newcombe (right) at RBI dinner in Los Angeles.(Photo Credit Earl Heath)
CHICAGO (AP) – A Chicago judge says “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett can travel out-of-state to meet his lawyers while he’s free on bond on charges he falsely reported being attacked by two masked men. Anne Kavanagh is a spokeswoman for Smollett’s attorneys, who say he’s innocent. Kavanagh says attorney Mark Geragos, who’s based in Los Angeles, is Smollett’s lead attorney. She says a defense lawyer asked Monday that Smollett be allowed to travel to California and New York for meetings with his legal team. Smollett was charged last week with disorderly conduct. Chicago police say Smollett, who is black and gay, staged the attack then told police his attackers yelled racial and anti-gay slurs and referenced President Donald Trump’s campaign slogan. He was released last week after posting $10,000 cash. He was ordered to surrender his passport.
Cop Plays Barry White & Let Couple Kiss in Patrol Car FORT PIERCE, Fla. (AP) – A Florida police officer has been suspended for allegedly playing Barry White while letting an arrested couple smoke and make-out in the back of his patrol car. According to an internal affairs report released Friday, Fort Myers Police Officer Doug McNeal placed the couple in the back of his patrol car after they’d been charged with shoplifting in July. Authorities said 23-year-old Zachery Moellendick and 24-yearold Krista Leigh were not placed in seatbelts and that Moellendick was not in handcuffs and had a lighter and a cigarette. The alleged incident was captured on video. Florida Today reports the video shows the couple making out. Authorities say the officer played “Can’t Get Enough Of Your Love” and agreed to let them smoke.
and a green button Cooper’s attorney Norman Hile maintains investigators planted at the scene of the crime. A retired Los Angeles County Superior Court judge will oversee the investigation.
Cooper, 61, has maintained his innocence over the years. His lawyers hope the results of the re-testing ordered by Gov. Newsom, which could take several months, will Continued on page A3
We Expect Mueller Report to Be Made Public
WASHINGTON — Today, the chairs of six committees in the U.S. House of Representatives wrote to Attorney General William Barr to inform him of their expectation that he will make Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report public “without delay and to the maximum extent permitted by law.” The letter follows news reports that suggest the Special Counsel investigation is nearing an end. The letter was signed by House Committee on Financial Services Chairwoman Maxine Waters, Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, Committee on Oversight and Reform Chairman Elijah E. Cummings, Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Adam B. Schiff, Committee on Ways and Means Chairman Richard E. Neal and Committee on Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot L. Engel. Full text of the letter is available below. February 22, 2019 The Honorable William P. Barr Attorney General U.S. Department of Justice 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20530 Dear Mr. Attorney General: Recent reports suggest that Special Counsel Robert Mueller may be nearing the end of his investigation into “any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump” and other matters that may have arisen directly from the investigation.[1] As you know, Department of Justice regulations require that, “[a]t the conclusion of the Special Counsel’s work, he or she shall provide the Attorney General with a confidential report explaining the prosecution or declination decisions reached by the Special Counsel.”[2] After nearly two years of investigation—accompanied by two years of direct attacks on the integrity of the investigation by the President—the public is entitled to know what the Special Counsel has found. We write to you to express, in the strongest possible terms, our expectation that the Department of Justice will release to the public the report Special Counsel Mueller submits to you—without delay and to the maximum extent permitted by law. There also remains a significant public interest in the full disclosure of information learned by the Special Counsel about the nature and scope of the Russian government’s efforts to undermine our democracy. To the extent that the Department believes that certain aspects of the report are not suitable for immediate public release, we ask that you provide
Thursday, February 28, 2019
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) – Maryland’s House speaker has removed a white lawmaker from a leadership position for using a racial slur for black people. House Speaker Michael Busch announced Tuesday he has removed Del. Mary Ann Lisanti as chair of a subcommittee. Lisanti, a Democrat, told reporters she would issue a statement later in the day. She apologized to the House Democratic Caucus Tuesday morning, after apologizing to leaders of the state’s Legislative Black Caucus on Monday. The speaker says Lisanti also has agreed to take sensitivity training. The Washington Post reported Monday that Lisanti allegedly used the slur to refer to Prince George’s County during an after-hours gathering at an Annapolis cigar bar. She told the Post earlier this month that she didn’t recall using the slur, but was ``sure everyone has used it.’’
Fresh Hopes and Familiar Disappointment Following DNA Testing in Cooper Case By Manny Otiko California Black Media Sacramento - On Friday, Feb. 22, Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered new DNA tests in a 35-year-old quadruple murder case involving African-American death row inmate Kevin Cooper. Newsom’s decision could lead to the overturning of Cooper’s 1985 conviction in the killing of a rural Chino Hills family and their 11-year-old house guest. The case has the potential, some political watchers say, to divide Californians. Both the California and United States supreme courts and more than a dozen lower courts have rejected Cooper’s past appeals. “I take no position regarding Mr. Cooper’s guilt or innocence at this time,” Newsom said in his executive order about the high-profile case that has drawn international interest. New York Times’ columnist Nicholas Kristof, U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris and reality TV star Kim Kardashian have all called for re-testing using current, more sensitive forensic technology. The ACLU and other human rights and social justice groups have also urged California state officials to launch a deeper investigation into Cooper’s conviction. Gov. Newsom’s order Friday expands previous direction issued by former Gov. Jerry Brown in December to test four pieces of crime scene evidence. Brown’s order allowed analysts to perform DNA re-testing on a tan T-shirt; an orange towel; and the handle and sheath of a hatchet prosecutors say Cooper used in the murders. In this new investigation, analysts will look at strands of hair from the victims’ hands, blood samples
FREEEE!!
that information to Congress, along with your reasoning for withholding the information from the public, in order for us to judge the appropriateness of any redactions for ourselves. We also expect that the Department will provide to our Committees, upon request and consistent with applicable law, other information and material obtained or produced by the Special Counsel regarding certain foreign actors and other individuals who may have been the subject of a criminal or counterintelligence investigation. This expectation is wellgrounded in the precedent set by the Department in recent years. In other closed and pending high-profile cases alleging wrongdoing by public officials, both the Department and the FBI have produced substantial amounts of investigative material, including classified and law enforcement sensitive information, to the House of Representatives. Finally, although we recognize the policy of the Department to remain sensitive to the privacy and reputation interests of individuals who will not face criminal charges,[3] we feel that it is necessary to address the particular danger of withholding evidence of misconduct by President Trump from the relevant committees. If the Special Counsel has reason to believe that the President has engaged in criminal or other serious misconduct, then the President must be subject to accountability either in a court or to the Congress. But because the Department has taken the position that a sitting President is immune from indictment and prosecution,[4] Congress could be the only institution currently situated to act on evidence of the President’s misconduct. To maintain that a sitting president cannot be indicted, and then to withhold evidence of wrongdoing from Congress because the President will not be charged, is to convert Department policy into the means for a cover-up. The President is not above the law. Thank you for your consideration. [1] Appointment of Special Counsel to Investigate Russian interference with the 2016 Presidential Election and Related Matters, Order No. 3915-2017, Office of the Deputy Attorney General, May 17, 2017. [2] 26 C.F.R. § 600.8(c). [3] See, e.g., United States Attorneys’ Manual 9-27.790 and 9-11.130. [4] See Memorandum from Robert G. Dixon, Jr., Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel, Amenability of the President, Vice President, and Other Civil Officers to Federal Criminal Prosecution while in Office (Sept. 24, 1973).
Man in Gorilla Suit Breaks in Home, Hides Under Bed SULPHUR, La. (AP) – Police say a man wearing a gorilla suit broke into a Louisiana home and hid under a mattress before officers arrested him. News outlets quote Sulphur Police Department spokesman Mel Estes in Thursday reports as saying that officers saw Jeremie Moran walking through yards in the costume. They had received calls about a suspicious person looking into homes. Estes says Moran ran into a home as officers approached but was discovered hiding. He was jailed on charges including resisting an officer, unauthorized entry, meth possession and wearing a mask. In Louisiana, a person convicted of wearing a mask in public can be sentenced to three years in prison at most. Exceptions are allowed for religious purposes or on holidays like Halloween and Mardi Gras. It’s unclear if Moran has a lawyer who could comment.
Man Looking Through Peephole Shot in Eye The letter was signed by House Committee on Financial Services Chairwoman Maxine Waters, Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, Committee on Oversight and Reform Chairman Elijah E. Cummings, Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Adam B. Schiff, Committee on Ways and Means Chairman Richard E. Neal and Committee on Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot L. Engel.
NEW YORK (AP) – New York City police say a man was shot in the eye as he looked through the peephole in his apartment door. Police say the 56-year-old victim was awakened by a knock at his door at his apartment in the Bronx early Saturday morning. Authorities say the unidentified gunman opened fire as the victim was looking through the peephole. Police say the suspect then took off. Responding medics rushed the victim to an area hospital, where he is listed in stable condition.