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wo A pr c e P a frica followi ), the n iation f envi esents a rrest of n Am ng st ati or honoronmen nother o two Bla a e t rican emenon’s prem the men t foll i er C r the li t for Afr minous ck men owin er in a publ ommiss fe and w ican Am signal at a P P h ilade g towa ic unres ion foun ork of D ericans of the inhiladelp lyears BAKER . h rds b t in o d ra c L i r r S cism . King a ess than easingl a Starb ecom ur c b efore on Calif FIE nd 5 and ing a omm two y dan ucks orni h 0 u p g w b i s e natio nitie o e fre y e r ed w convict a n wh s, we lice brut ears afte eks after ous ion i r the ality t we ere a still h even Vicente in days, perso have a at th Kern e t n B ng w rooyou 1993 hough enavi tent is jud2.loWhen t of see this logo scan 1. Get the app by scanning or download it was convic the stat d not t of theirged by t ay to go he whole picture with this QR code with your from Google Play the he co over c injur false. M tion on e S lo o haracter cong a i tablet or smart phone. or The App Store or smartphone. f the tablet ation “The Sryour a a n nnou es recan ny doct ro d o t n e insig provi tarbuckir skin. d c fi rst-d ed Tu . Ker rs eg n e ure ht rega des dan s situw o uld b ree mu sday tha C impl of our rding t gerous r d e o e n “ ra tp di drefus icit bia nation he failchar degree mfficult, if nd tha s t e o s g to b eriou not e, he take urde unc ism onscious elieve thsly. We Bena would r. Even im u if B b n w v a e ti id Bus of— e are bias—t t our ton, l a court es will r immedia can h o f e Ker iness P t e w r e s n u and acay and pokesw order to main o t fieldn Coun ionee polic into ou does m naware n o R New ty S r Aw NA o i a r e rder ehabilit man for release h k s . actio e its s Ob uper ard W Sta ACP P ation i i t s h n p e “ r serv ior C s r inne W Cali m ovid . Be Blac and e k the bucks reside “ er p ourt f I r; Ju e n ’ k d v a w n n ow hot ould e seen , Thor vides o requ men (NA failur situat t and o) . (Carin dge G nto if t it h be co ire si in P ion ACP e of C E h gto loria O andc x po hilad wo ) our prov Bena within a appen i n said.

Der nP l e h u d —De i i l n c d n i r ff a p rich J Cann f sw vid atio es d ick few ug or hia as an e offi ett/ on o n to ang John Detr ay to sc Pre rrick er w hter, Co es was b days,” little a thenwaiting d arres cers to Bak oit? side take erou son s a h she s n Joh t a s t o ers-f o s b a u o l w y y t emer t wo Or lw e s n stand e be order hem nt a nso imp s insig ays t genc rk. Thlo Verdu itting h aid gin nd C n, N coffe licit Step fired at explain ould be ht r hat t t h d a is g e y o l g t l e o, ct ow e, b hon o t EO bias egar he r m AAC Clar en time Saheed Vshot at b ack, defe ors that oom. Sh couple la in Dela i seri ding P ous a s for s ind stat underthe s “Every s k y n b a ous an w ss y a that dead nd rea uch o e that out o se said the girl e died a ter brou n ly. expl tereotyp day peo he w police o as shot a d shot ell, a me homeow c v l b h t y e g ain w f the the g a i r o es an ple o t d z f ffi as t2 are p orce nt n ealle n ea irl m ad hit h out a w h hy 1 aiof by t ary uCalifornia for a ast glad the culpcers in S 0 times d by poally-ill mer just o . GNumber A fo house July emb f cNewspapers olor e Volume133 38 Observer Southern Thursday, 26, 2018 d s e a e t 4-ye dGroup e r y e i t c a h o n h h o E a u r a i n l e n th rit re e gun. j a a n ar-ol edded find t t. serve ose w f SCA T AP e cas sponcrament d hit 8 ice office n in Brotside the uries fro nsic pat d Benav ve been ad on d Br hem ho f e a “ a n o A h t P e i m s r r i N s o d d , e i o s g s m ll to s way of St b k elv nnan es br truck irl’s i l o proYO QR . arbu le for b based on es, main. Or wh i n being ogist Walkf others. es at th whil s by me o often cks t reaki ly in y m But n juries w sodom conclud efly lost t e me h PHOUR TA CODE er w H t e d e h i n h o B a e e a i e ed t t e g a z . w s d s l c r r h h a e e t a s c e i i R i r e u d c o e c B y n no o l is k ty a NE. miss else ca of LET WIT ne m to cars. mption sault w al record y all late caused b , and se hat th train comm so dangcism an sues are ed h n we H vera O y W r s i h d i s d i i e re se th s bu took an en e R SM SEA ue to ng on i tting m rous w biases iscusse s on a wa are an d other the gir at indic canted, xual assa l d m d i o t l R f A h l r a p i l a s l e a c n i n ult a let ted wa d nj RT t e the licit b GO CH O y o r p cons ias anesources t just gomake simassing e sible some sai uries ma s first ho there wing they N OR OGLE P d , eque y p h ” acc a s nces d racism to discu away wi ply bre isodic ordin the purp have bee pitalized s no evid LAY DOW of ou . If w ssion thou athin orted n cau . The g t o g t , r fail e refu y the s s educ our FRO NLO ure t tate cause of ed by he also o do se to, we ation ansoSupr r d M T AD e a t APP ’ll co eme h “an me so.” d 2. L H n C E atom ATLANTA (AP) A Georgia lawmaker is seen using t o i O STO nur LOG OK F racial slurs and dropping his pants in an episode of Sashat’s ruling RE O O R TH Baron Cohen’s Showtime series “Who Is America?”.

United Nations, and his leadership of ARDN’s “Pathway to In Sunday night’s broadcast, Republican Rep. Jason NEW YORK CITY - Dr. Djibril Diallo,IS the Solutions” international initiative.

Spencer of Woodbine repeatedly uses a racial slur for African 3 . anChonor and privilege to have received the 2018 Americans and later exposes his bottom after being told it President and Chief Executive Officer of “ItS is S AN MA helps scare away Muslim terrorists.

African Renaissance and Diaspora Network, International Humanitarian Award for my service at the United RTP LOGO Spencer lost in the May primary but his term doesn’t end HON Inc. (ARDN) was named the recipient of Nations,” said Dr. Diallo.

“This W is especially significant as ARDN ITH until his replacement takes over after the November election.

E LOSJournal-Constitution reports that Georgia .

YOUwhich is a special But ThecerAtlanta Rainbow PUSH Coalition’s 2018 International is now spearheading the ‘Pathway to Solutions,’ A G i s R G s r a Bloo ce J HousebSpeaker Humanitarian Award.

ELE has called for Spencer to resign. ing t NRalston project for the United to popularize theTA Sustainable one aby w uDavid dlig Nations B s h S (A had earlier threatened : t L an The newspaper ilm ensure ET O state Spencer hile hereports Dr. Diallo received the award on Friday, June 15 from Development Goals, Fand w P) _ Rev d Bam that the vulnerable are uplifted a s ie i r Baker p e w p s R legal action to prevent the network airing A C footage of him. r p Tues egnan ondin risonfrom Bak Reverend Jesse L. Jackson Sr., the founder of Rainbow PUSH, and no one is left behind.” al sfield syste apologized ersfi In a statement Monday, Spencer the t d g .

Fres eld a t S y m af ifornia for o arah but hea refused Natleadership no in B episode” during the 47th Annual Rainbow PUSH International “Djibril’s tireless and outstanding global c fi “ridiculously ugly to step down from t o g e Bas State M ive Na C r C a h r r k tb ect ketb oo she en’s med er aske oogle afor H said Convention in Chicago, Illinois, in recognition of his steadfast continues to make our global village a better place ll Co all,” office. d for says sfield. gle filed etween i says she ion offi ach ead t n i a a s o lo m h and outstanding global leadership in making humanity’s common Reverend nal I Jackson. “We appreciate his commitment to serve and l discr or We nstit ess stren e told o will R imin ates whe st he w FREE! a the Csave s home a better place, through his over three decades of service in thus e u humanity.” n u ffi ap n sh atio ’t p ou tio on ci

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Env ir Just onme Facinice Issu ntal es g K Res iden ern Co . ts

Bill Cosby: a Sexually Violent Predator?

Opinion :

African Renaissance and Diaspora Network, Inc., President and CEO, Dr. Djibril Diallo (2nd from right) received Rainbow PUSH Coalition 2018 International Humanitarian Award. (ARDN)

Crack Down on Inmate Cell Phones

By DON THOMPSON Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Judges in California and South Carolina have ordered cellphone carriers to disable nearly 200 contraband cellphones used by inmates to orchestrate crimes behind and outside prison walls, the most sweeping order of its kind ever won by corrections officials.

It's an important victory for prison officials who have been frustrated by their inability to stop the flow of smuggled phones that are used to coordinate drug deals, gang operations and killings. Even murderous cult leader Charles Manson, who died in November, obtained phones and used them to communicate with followers outside prison.

The warrant essentially orders carriers to “turn these phones into bricks,” California Corrections Secretary Scott Kernan told The Associated Press on Monday. The phones will be shut down over the next week or two, he said.

Kernan expects other states will follow the lead of South Carolina and California and ask judges to approve broad shutdowns. He said the ruling is a big step forward in addressing the intractable and related issue of drugs and cellphones in Continued on page A2

By CLAUDIA LAUER Associated Press Bill Cosby should be classified as a sexually violent predator, according to an evaluation by Pennsylvania's Sexual Offenders Assessment Board.

The district attorney's office that prosecuted Cosby asked a judge in a filing Tuesday to schedule a hearing on whether to accept the recommendation. No date was immediately set.

“We will see them in court,” responded Andrew Wyatt, Cosby's spokesman.

The 81-year-old comedian was convicted April 26 of aggravated indecent assault. He was accused of drugging and assaulting former Temple University employee Andrea Constand at his home near Philadelphia in 2004.

The weekslong retrial in suburban Philadelphia included testimony from five other women who were among dozens who have stepped forward to accuse Cosby of similar sexual misconduct.

The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they are victims of sexual assault unless they grant permission, as Constand has done.

The former TV star once known as “America's Dad” for his portrayal of kindly Dr. Cliff Huxtable on his NBC hit “The Cosby Show” is now confined to his home awaiting sentencing , which is scheduled for Sept. 24. He faces up to 10 years in prison. His representatives have said he plans to appeal.

Superior Court Judge Steven O'Neill, who presided at the trial, ordered him to be outfitted with a GPS monitoring bracelet and required him to seek permission to leave home, and only then to visit with lawyers or go to the doctor.

The report by the Sexual Offenders Assessment Board, which examined 14 different criteria, is not public. Copies are given to the prosecutor, defense attorney and court before the hearing and the board's assessor will likely testify about how she made the recommendation.

State law already requires Cosby to register as a sex offender because of the nature of the charge of which he was convicted. The sexually violent predator classification would require increased treatment in prison and increased notification of neighbors upon release.

A person deemed a predator is subject to lifetime, at least monthly, mandatory sex offender counseling with a treatment provider approved by the state board.

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By MARGARET STAFFORD Associated Press

BRANSON, Mo. (AP) - “Grab the baby!”

Continued on page A4

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The streaming service on Friday announced eight shows Rhimes and her collaborators at Shondaland are developing.

The show about African-American life will be based on Isabel Wilkerson’s award-winning book “The Warmth of Other Sons,” while the show about London aristocrats is based on Julia Quinn’s best-selling romance novels set in Regency England.

Other projects include a show based on tech investor Ellen Pao’s memoir, a series on California on the eve of the Mexican-American War, and a dark comedy about a troop of teenage girls who survive the apocalypse and want humanity to live by their Sunshine Scouts rules.

Pao in 2015 lost a high-profile sex discrimination lawsuit against Silicon Valley venture-capital firm where she had been a partner. Netflix said Pao’s experiences “presaged the Time’s Up movement.”

Rhimes, the creator of hit shows such as “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Scandal,” signed a multiyear deal to produce Netflix shows last August.

Chinese Turtle Smuggling Flight Attendants Fined

Branson Duck Boat Tragedy Those were the last words Tia Coleman recalls her sisterin-law yelling before the tourist boat they were on sank into a Missouri lake, killing 17 people, including nine of Coleman’s family members.

A huge wave hit, scattering passengers on the vessel known as a duck boat into Table Rock Lake near Branson, Coleman said.

When the Indianapolis woman came up for air, she was alone.

She prayed.

“I said, Lord, please, let me get to my babies,” she told reporters from her wheelchair Saturday in the lobby of a hospital where she’s recovering after swallowing lake water. “... If they don’t make it, Lord, take me too. I don’t need to be here.”

Coleman recalled spotting the rescue boat and managed to reach it, “somehow.” Earlier, from her hospital bed, she recounted to television station KOLR her sister-in-law’s last words.

Coleman’s husband and three children, ages 9, 7 and 1; her 45-year-old sister-in-law and 2-year-old nephew; her mother-inlaw and father-in-law and her husband’s uncle all died Thursday night in the deadliest accident of its kind in nearly two decades.

Others killed included a Missouri couple who had just celebrated a birthday; another Missouri couple on what was planned as their last extended vacation; an Illinois woman who died while saving her granddaughter’s life; an Arkansas father and son; and a retired pastor who was the boat’s operator.

None of the 31 passengers on board was wearing a life jacket, according to an incident report released Saturday by the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

State and federal investigators were trying to determine what sent the vessel, originally built for military use in World War II, to its demise. An initial assessment blamed thunderstorms and winds that approached hurricane strength, but it wasn’t clear why the amphibious vehicle even ventured into the water.

Coleman said the crew told passengers they were going into the water first, before the land-based part of their tour, because of the incoming storm. The area had been under a severe thunderstorm watch for hours and a severe thunderstorm warning

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LOS ANGELES (AP) - Two flight attendants for a Chinese airline were fined and ordered to leave the United States within 72 hours for attempting to smuggle nearly twodozen spotted and box turtles in a carry-on bag from Los Angeles to China.

City News Service reports Monday that U.S. District Judge S. James Otero ordered Chinese nationals Huaqian Qu and Renfeng Gao to pay $5,500 each to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service before returning to China within three days.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office says the two China Eastern attendants pleaded guilty last month to a federal conspiracy charge, which carries a possible penalty of up to five years behind bars.

While prosecutors argued for 10-month prison sentences, Otero says the smuggling offense “was not violent,” and the probationary sentences with fines were “sufficient.”

City Wants Barack Obama Boulevard VALDOSTA, Ga. (AP) - Residents of a Georgia city are pushing to change the name of a residential street to Barack Obama Boulevard.

The Valdosta Daily Times reports a citizens group plans to start circulating a petition Monday to rename Forrest Street for the nation’s first black president. The Rev. Floyd Rose says the petition needs signatures from 51 percent of the street’s residents.

Rose says the name should be changed because Valdosta city leaders named Forrest Street in April 1883 for Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, who was also an early leader of the Ku Klux Klan.

But Donald Davis of the Lowndes County Historical Museum says notes from the period indicate the street may have been named for Elbert Forrest, a black businessman in Valdosta.

Papa J’s Poison Pill

TIA Coleman, who lost nine relatives including her three children and her husband, reportedly said the last thing she heard her family scream was, “grab the babies”.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - Papa John’s is attempting to ward off its disgraced founder by adopting a poison-pill plan.

The company is struggling to distance itself from John Schnatter, who resigned as chairman this month after his use of a racial slur during a media training session was revealed. He stepped down late last year as CEO after becoming enmeshed in the national anthem issue involving NFL players, saying it was hurting pizza sales.

Schnatter, who later said his resignation was a mistake, is still the pizza chain’s biggest shareholder. He founded the company in 1984.

Papa John’s, based in Louisville, Kentucky, said late Sunday it will put its shareholder rights plan in place for a year.

The plan would be activated if anyone acquires 15 percent or more of the company’s outstanding shares without board approval. That would effectively prevent Schnatter, who holds 30 percent of all outstanding stock, from gaining a controlling stake in the company.

The company said the plan won’t keep its board from considering any offer that is fair and in the best interest of shareholders.

Papa John’s International Inc. has started scrubbing Schnatter’s image from its marketing materials and has said it’s evaluating all of its ties with him. Schnatter still serves as a board member.

It’s holding off Schnatter as it struggles to reinvigorate the brand. Shares of Papa Joh’s International Inc. are down more than 30 percent over the past year.

World & Nation Justice Department Reopens Till Case A2

LOS ANGELES NEWS OBSERVER

In August 28, 1955, Emmett Till, who was 14, was murdered in the town of Money, Mississippi

By Lauren Victoria Burke NNPA Newswire Contributor The U.S. Department of Justice has once again reopened the infamous Emmett Till case. The 1955 murder case was a major turning point in the Civil Rights Movement and one of the most notorious murders in United States history.

In August 28, 1955, Emmett Till, who was 14, was murdered in the town of Money, Mississippi by Roy Bryant and his halfbrother J.W. Milam after Bryant’s wife Carolyn alleged that Till whistled at her and groped her. Bryant and Milam abducted Emmett Till from the home of his great-uncle, beat him, shot him in the head and dumped his body in the Tallahatchie River. Till’s body was weighted down by a cast iron cotton gin pulley. Three days later his corpse was recovered from the river.

Till’s body was sent to his mother, Mamie Carthan Till, in Chicago. She demanded that her son would have an open casket funeral. The decision would lead to worldwide press attention after hundreds of attendees were given full view of Till’s mutilated corpse. The Black Press, led by Jet magazine, widely covered Till’s murder, featuring several jarring photos.

In a Justice Department statement on July 13, the reason given for reopening the Till investigation was related to, “receiving new information.” However, the Justice Department did not detail exactly what the new information was. According to USA Today, the decision was revealed to Congress in a February report, but it is unclear what the Justice Department is prepared to act on.

In September 1955, Bryant and Milam were acquitted by an all-White jury after less than 90 minutes of deliberation. Till’s murderers later admitted to the crime in a 1956 interview for

LOOK magazine.

Bryant died in 1994 and Milam died in 1980.

CNN.com reported that, “‘Several interested parties’ asked the Justice Department in 2004 whether any surviving suspects could be prosecuted.”

At the time the Justice Department determined that the statute of limitations prevented any federal prosecution, according to CNN.com.

“Three years later, a Mississippi grand jury declined to issue new charges,” CNN.com reported.

Many have speculated that the reopening of Emmett Till’s death by the Justice Department is related to last year’s publication of the book “The Blood of Emmett Till,” by author Tim Tyson. Tyson’s book revealed that Bryant’s ex-wife, Carolyn Bryant Donham admitted in 2008 that she lied when she claimed Till whistled at her, a tale she would later tell her husband that set off a chain of events leading to Till’s murder.

In 1955 Carolyn Bryant Donham was 21 year-old former beauty queen; now, she’s more than 80 year-old and living in North Carolina.

The original casket of Emmett Till was donated to the Smithsonian Institution and is now displayed at the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

The story of Emmett Till is one of the most important of the last half of the 20th century. And an important element was the casket,” said Lonnie Bunch, the director of NMAAHC, in a 2009 interview with The Washington Post. “It is an object that allows us to tell the story, to feel the pain and understand loss.”

Bunch continued: “I want people to feel like I did. I want people to feel the complexity of emotions.”

Lg Study on Aggressive Prostate Cancer in African-American Men The $26.5 million study is called RESPOND, or Research on Prostate Cancer in Men of African Ancestry: Defining the Roles of Genetics, Tumor Markers, and Social Stress. The study will examine aggressive prostate cancer in African-American men. (Pexels.com)

The largest coordinated research effort to study biological and non-biological factors associated with aggressive prostate cancer in African-American men has begun. The $26.5 million study is called RESPOND, or Research on Prostate Cancer in Men of African Ancestry: Defining the Roles of Genetics, Tumor Markers, and Social Stress. It will investigate environmental and genetic factors related to aggressiveness of prostate cancer in African-American men to better understand why they disproportionally experience aggressive disease—that is, disease that grows and spreads quickly—compared with men of other racial and ethnic groups.

RESPOND is supported by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD), both parts of the National Institutes of Health, as well as by the Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF).

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The NCI funding will be provided from the 21st Century Cures Cancer Moonshot Initiative.

“Understanding why African-American men are more likely to be diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer than men of other racial and ethnic groups is a critical, unanswered question in cancer disparities research,” said NCI Director Ned Sharpless, M.D. “This large, collaborative study can help the cancer research community better understand and address these disparities.”

African-American men have about a 15 percent chance of developing prostate cancer in their lifetimes, compared to about a 10 percent chance for White men, and African-American men are more likely to be diagnosed with aggressive disease. In addition, the risk of dying from prostate cancer for African-American men is about 4 percent compared to about 2 percent for white men.

With the RESPOND study, researchers aim to learn more about why these disparities exist.

“This study, which is combining state-of-the-art molecular approaches with social and environmental science, will help unravel the complex interactions of biological, behavioral, and environmental factors that contribute to excess prostate cancer burden and poorer outcomes in African-American men, allowing development of tailored approaches for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment in this population,” said NIMHD Director Eliseo Pérez-Stable, M.D. The investigators aim to enroll 10,000 African-American men with prostate cancer into the RESPOND study. The participants will be identified primarily via NCI’s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Program of Cancer Registries. In addition, this study builds on years of research collaboration involving investigators who are part of the African Ancestry Prostate Cancer (AAPC) consortium. These investigators will contribute additional information and samples from 10,000 African-American men with prostate cancer. In accordance with NIH data sharing policies, and with appropriate informed consent, the de-identified data and samples collected as part of this research will be made available as a resource to the scientific community, aiding future research.

Investigators in the study will examine possible associations between aggressive disease and exposures to neighborhood/ environmental stressors such as discrimination, early-life adversity, and segregation. They will also study DNA and tumor samples to identify gene variants associated with aggressive prostate cancer.

Once researchers have identified genetic changes associated with aggressive prostate cancer, they will investigate how the social environment interacts with those genetic changes. “Previous research on prostate cancer disparities has investigated social and genetic factors separately, but we know these components interact with each other to contribute to disparities,” said Damali Martin, Ph.D., program director for the study in NCI’s Epidemiology and Genomics Research Program. “The ability to integrate genetic and environmental factors, including individual, neighborhood, and societal factors, into one large study will enable us to have a better understanding of how all of these factors contribute to the aggressiveness of prostate cancer.”

RESPOND, a cooperative agreement, will be led by Christopher Haiman, Sc.D., of the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles, in collaboration with John Carpten, Ph.D., Ann Hamilton, Ph.D., and David Conti, Ph.D., also of USC; Scarlett Gomez, Ph.D., of the University of California, San Francisco; Tamara Lotan, M.D., of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore; and Franklin Huang, M.D., Ph.D., of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

NCI’s Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics will perform genotyping, and the Center for Inherited Disease Research at Johns Hopkins University will conduct DNA sequencing for the genetic component of the study. NCI’s Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences is administering the study grant.

“No group in the world is hit harder by prostate cancer than men of African descent, and, to date, little is known about the biological reasons for these disparities, or the full impact of environmental factors,” said Jonathan W. Simons, M.D., PCF’s president and CEO. “We celebrate our partnership and applaud NIH for spearheading this study, which we believe will help pave the way for groundbreaking discoveries that will improve health equity for African-American men and their families.”

Thursday, July 26, 2018

Crack Down on Inmate Cell Phones Continued from page A1

prisons.

Last February, federal prosecutors said two inmates used smuggled cellphones to run a violent, drug-dealing street gang from inside California's super-maximum-security Pelican Bay State Prison. And South Carolina officials blamed a prison riot that killed seven inmates in April on a turf war between gangs over territory, money and contraband items such as drugs and cellphones.

The wireless industry has long been able to remotely disable cellphone if they are lost or stolen. But the industry has said it needs a court order before it can shut down the devices at the request of the government.

The goal is to not only stop inmates from using the phones to orchestrate crimes, but to disrupt the lucrative smuggling of cellphones by prison employees and others that Kernan said can bring the smuggler “about $1,500 a pop on the (prison) black market.” California authorities seized more than 13,000 cellphones last year alone, the most since 2011, “so you can do the math. That's a lot of black market.”

Getting an order to shut down multiple cellphones is more efficient and cheaper that tracking them down and confiscating them one at a time.

In California, a Kern County judge on Friday ordered all the major carriers to shut down 97 devices including cellphones and SIM cards at Kern Valley State Prison in Delano, north of Bakersfield. A South Carolina judge issued a similar warrant for about 100 cellphones at one prison there, also on Friday, California officials said.

California plans to obtain similar warrants to regularly shut down phones in other prisons, Kernan said.

Corrections department Special Agent James Rochester cited the “voluminous offenses committed by the use of cellular phones” and “the direct link these phones have to the commission of crimes” as reasons for the judge granting the warrant. He said hundreds of inmates have told him they can easily obtain the phones that he said in his sworn affidavit have been used to coordinate violent crimes including assaults and murders along with narcotics and firearms trafficking.

It has long been illegal for inmates to have cellphones in prison. Prison officials identified the contraband phones using cellphone signal-capturing devices that were installed years ago at 18 of the California's 35 prisons. They halted expansion of that program in 2015 for fear the technology was being outpaced by advances in cellphones' sophistication.

South Carolina officials used similar technology to identify the illicit cellphones there, Kernan said.

California has since installed nearly 1,000 sophisticated metal detectors, scanners and secret security cameras in prisons to detect and deter the smuggling of cellphones and other contraband like drugs. That effort was paid for by Virginia-based Global Tel-Link, the nation's largest prison phone company, from the projected $17 million it receives each year from California inmates and their families who use landlines to make phone calls that are monitored for security reasons.

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Thursday, July 26, 2018

LOS ANGELES NEWS OBSERVER A3

Sports

The 2018 ESPN ESPY Awards

By Cameron Buford Contributing Sports Writer ESPN facets itself as the Worldwide Leader in Sports. Hence the ESPN (Entertainment and Sports Programing Network) moniker. For nearly forty years now they have certainly lived up to that billing, as the leader in sports. Several years ago, ESPN created an annual award ceremony. Now known as the ESPY Awards, this event gathers top celebrities from sports and entertainment to commemorate the past year in sports by saluting the leading performers and performances recognizing major sports achievements and reliving unforgettable moments.

Not only do the ESPY Awards recognize achievements in such categories as “Best Upset,” “Best Female Athlete,” and “Best Team,” they also award inspiring human stories which are showcased through three pillar awards, The Arthur Ashe Courage Award, the Jimmy V Perseverance Award and the Pat Tillman Award for Service. Additionally, The ESPYS support ESPN’s ongoing commitment to the V Foundation for Cancer Research, launched by ESPN with the late Jim Valvano, in 1993.

Though the ESPY’s Awards have been through many iterations since the original ESPY was awarded in 1993. As initially the ESPY Awards were held in New York City. Years later the Awards show moved to Las Vegas. Once the ESPY Awards move to west coast, it only made since that the award show be held near the West Coast ESPN headquarters at LA Live, in Los Angeles.

The Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly (ESPY) Awards are now being held at the Microsoft Theater which is adjacent to the Staple Center in downtown Los Angeles. Though the format of this award show is similar to that of the Academy Awards, Emmy’s, Grammy’s or Tony Awards, the ESPY’s tend to be more socially conscious but at the same time self-deprecating and relaxed. Due to the mix of its previous host the ESPY’s often has take on a comedic feel.

Comedians Dennis Miller, Seth Meyers and Jamie Foxx each have hosted the ceremonies more than once. Between 1999 and 2009, Actor Samuel L. Jackson has hosted the event 4 times, no one has hosted the award show more often. Each award show often includes clever comedic skits based around the host notoriety and topical events. Motor Sport Legend driver Danica Patrick surprisingly did not disappoint in her opportunity as the 2018 host of the ESPY’s. As she showed us a lot of her personality while poking fun at her relationship with Packers Quarterback Aaron Rodgers and her NFL fandom.

ESPY Award winners were chosen only through voting by fans since their inception through 2004. Now the ESPY Selection Nominating Committee selects the candidates and the fans selects via winners via online ballots. We have listed this year’s ESPY Awards categories and winners: COMPLETE LIST OF THE 2018 ESPYS WINNERS

Best Male Athlete: Alexander Ovechkin Best Female Athlete: Chloe Kim Best Olympic Moment: Shaun White Best Championship Performance: Nick Foles Best Breakthrough Athlete: Donovan Mitchell Best Game: USA Women’s Hockey defeats Canada Best Moment: Minnesota Vikings defeat the New Orleans Saints Best Team: Houston Astros Best College Athlete: Baker Mayfield Best Play: Notre Dame’s Arike Ogunbowale wins NCAA Title Best Record-Breaking Performance: Roger Federer Best International Men’s Soccer Player: Cristiano Ronaldo Best International Women’s Soccer Player: Sam Kerr Best NFL Player: Tom Brady Best MLB Player: Mike Trout Best NHL Player: Alexander Ovechkin Best Driver: Martin Truex Jr. Best NBA Player: LeBron James Best WNBA Player: Maya Moore Best Fighter: Terence Crawford Best Male Golfer: Jordan Spieth Best Female Golfer: Sung-Hyun Park Best Male Olympian: Shaun White Best Female Olympian: Chloe Kim Best Male Tennis Player: Roger Federer Best Female Tennis Player: Sloane Stephens Best Male Action Sports Athlete: David Wise Best Female Action Sports Athlete: Chloe Kim Best Jockey: Jose Ortiz Best Male Athlete with a Disability: Mike Schultz Best Female Athlete with a Disability: Brenna Huckaby Best Bowler: Rhino Page Best MLS Player: Nemanja Nikolic Best NWSL Player: Megan Rapinoe SPECIAL AWARDS Jimmy V Award for Perseverance: Jim Kelly Jim Kelly http:// www.espn.com/video/clip?id=24134133 Arthur Ashe Award for Courage: survivors who spoke out against sexual abuse by their former team doctor http://www.espn.com/ video/clip?id=24134625 Pat Tillman Award for Service: Jake Wood, Team Rubicon http:// www.espn.com/video/clip?id=24133915 Best Coach: Aaron Feis, Scott Beigel and Chris Hixon (coaches at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School) A portion of the proceeds from sales of tickets to the event subsidizes the V Foundation, a charity established by late collegiate basketball coach and television commentator Jim Valvano to promote cancer research. Less than two months before

Cameron Buford corresponding for the Los Angeles News Observer, on the Red Carpet of the 2018 ESPY Awards at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. (Cameron Buford/Whatsgoodinsports.com photo)

his death from metastatic adenocarcinoma, Valvano announced the creation of the charitable foundation during his acceptance of the Arthur Ashe Courage Award in 1993.

In honor of his son, former Buffalo Bills Quarterback Jim Kelly and his wife founded Hunter’s Hope. The intention was to increase awareness for Krabbe patients. Neuroscientists and clinicians have been able to study myelin and its diseases at The Hunter James Kelly Research Institute, which was founded at the University of Buffalo. Kelly himself just underwent surgery on his upper jaw as he was diagnosed with the cancer, squamous cell carcinoma in 2013. For his lifetime of perseverance, he was awarded the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance.

To follow in the line of memorable reception speeches to during this ceremony. Robin Roberts as well as the late Stuart Scott’s gave passionate heart felt speeches as they received their Arthur Ashe Courage Awards. The image of the 140 “sisters survivors” standing on stage to receive their Arthur Ashe Courage Award, along with the words of fellow survivors Sarah Klein, Tiffany Thomas Lopez, and Aly Raisman spoke volumes in condemnation of sexual assault predators, on behalf surviving sexual assault victims, everywhere. Including the harmed by former USA Gymnastics team doctor and the osteopathic physician at Michigan State University.

In his acceptance speech, Jake Wood spoke proudly about the benefits of team and teamwork and how we need to be better teammate as American citizens, as he was awarded the Pat Tillman Award for Service. The mission of Team Rubicon is to solve two problems: (1) improve disaster response which is often slow to respond, has an antiquated infrastructure, and is not using the best technological solutions or well-trained members (2) improve veteran reintegration into civilian life, where military veterans, whose training, skills, and experience, makes them very effective in disaster response, can reduce suicide within their community and address integration issues by helping others in an opportunity to provide service to others These ESPY Awards was a wonderfully planned event that is gaining prominence each year. Because there isn’t any other sporting event going on, on this day, the awards winners are often able to attend, which increases the star power of the ceremony. This event also become an awesome networking event for the celebrities and athletes in attendance. As you might have imagined, ESPN, spares no expense during the promotion of this event. Please share your thoughts on the recent production of the ESPY Awards and let me know What’s Good by sharing your thoughts and feedback in the comment section below at www. whatsgoodinsports.com

Tuskegee Dynamic Pitcher/Catcher Duo

Christian Marshall (left) and Elgin Woodside are baseball teammates at Tuskegee University. Marshall and Woodside participated in the 2018 SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game. (Christian Marshall)

By Daja E. Henry and Ila Wilborn NNPA DTU Journalism Fellows Over 38,000 people watched from the stands Sunday in Washington D.C.’s Nationals Park as Tuskegee University pitcher Christian Marshall stepped up to the plate to throw the ceremonial first pitch of the 2018 SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game. Elgin Woodside, a catcher for Tuskegee’s baseball team, assisted. Although the two were not yet prospects for the “Majors,” they both have a stake in the future of baseball.

“Growing up as kids, playing baseball, everyone has that dream of going to the [pros],” Marshall said, as he explained the feeling of pitching in a game with Minor League Baseball’s top prospects.

Woodside added: “Even though we never thought that moment would come to us, whenever we got in the moment, it didn’t feel like we were out of place. It felt like we were meant to be there, and all our hard work was paying off and God just gave us our blessing.”

As a part of the Major League Baseball’s All-Star Week,

the 2018 SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game is meant to shine a spotlight on budding baseball stars. At the 20-year mark, the exhibition game “features the top Minor League prospects competing in a nine-inning contest as part of All-Star Sunday,” according to the league’s official website.

Marshall and Woodside are pitcher and catcher of Tuskegee University’s SIAC baseball team. The two bonded over baseball, however, long before they entered Tuskegee, in their hometown of New Orleans, Louisiana; both participated in the New Orleans MLB Urban Youth Academy.

“A lot of kids [in New Orleans] don’t get the opportunities we got,” Marshall said.

From 2005 up until June 2018, Louisiana was deemed the incarceration capital of the world. According to EdWeek, the state ranks 46th in K-12 achievement. Orleans Parish itself was named the most murderous county in 2017. Marshall and Woodside were determined not to become a part of those statistics.

The two are beginning their senior year at Tuskegee, both

studying mechanical engineering. Marshall is interning this summer, testing parts for NASA in Pasadena, Calif. Woodside is assessing aerodynamics at Lockheed Martin in Stamford, Conn.

The two student athletes do not have much idle time.

“In the fall, even though we’re not in season, we’re still practicing,” Marshall said as he described their daily schedules that begin with workouts as early as 5 A.M. The rigorous coursework and hectic baseball schedules keep the two utilizing the creative work ethic they acquired back home at the MLB Youth Academy.

Though they have a lot on their plate, there is a driving force pushing them to reach for further success.

“Whenever you get tired, you’ve got to have something in the back of your mind that you can tap into,” Woodside said.

“The things that I’m doing, it’s a reflection of me, but it’s also a reflection of something bigger.” Woodside explained how he is building a future that will make his entire and future family proud.

Marshall and Woodside exist in a rare intersection for young, Black men. As of 2017, the MLB reported 7.7 percent African

American or African Canadian players. According to 2010 Census data, African American men made up just 3 percent of scientists and engineers working in the field. Their very existence in this intersection is a statement of triumph over the lack of access to vital resources that often plagues young Blacks.

While many African Americans get into basketball and football, it’s just not as easy to get into baseball. The lack of equipment, facilities and role models make it difficult for young, Black men to expose themselves to the sport. While in football and basketball, children can just pick up a ball and practice, baseball requires highly, specialized equipment like gloves, bats and balls, which puts children from low-income families at a disadvantage.

Exposure is the main factor that separates Marshall and Woodside from their counterparts. Marshall’s mother exposed him to baseball around six years-old. Woodside’s father put him into tee-ball at three years-old. While participating in the Urban Youth Academy, they both gained a baseball role model in Eddie Davis, a Black resident of New Orleans, who played minor league baseball in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ system.

Both expressed a level of difficulty finding mentors in engineering, as well. At times, they feel as if they are under a microscope. However, they remain humble, consistent and determined to overcome those obstacles.

“Knowledge is power. If you can get more knowledge and just learn how things operate, then I feel like that’ll be the key to overcoming any type of adversity there is at your workplace or in your life,” Marshall said.

Their mechanical engineering playbook includes asking a lot of questions, staying engaged and setting up lunch meetings to learn from people, who are in the positions they want to be in.

Tuskegee has been instrumental in creating a networking pipeline and served as a beneficial aspect of Woodside’s life, since he first began attending the university.

“It just felt like everybody was one big family,” Woodside said.

With just under 3,000 students enrolled in 2017, Tuskegee has the opportunity to provide its students with a close-knit atmosphere.

“It [isn’t] a big school, so you know you’re going to make connections that can last a lifetime,” Woodside said.

The teammates rely on their lifetime connection to help win games.

“The closeness that we have is like unspoken communication,” Marshall said. “Every game that I’ve pitched really well, he’s been the one catching for me the whole time.”

Woodside expressed equal admiration for Marshall.

“If it wasn’t for Christian Marshall, Elgin Woodside would not be the person that he is today,” Woodside said. “Christian was always there to pick me up.”

“When I’m on the mound and he’s on the plate, especially when we catch our groove, it feels like we’re unstoppable… almost.” Marshall said as he explained the natural chemistry that is critical in the makings of a great team.

Marshall continued: “We made the most of what we had at Tuskegee and I feel we made a major impact because of the mentality we brought into the program.”

Daja E. Henry (Howard University), Ila Wilborn (Florida A&M University) are 2018 NNPA Discover The Unexpected Journalism Fellows representing #TeamAuthentic. Follow their stories this summer at nnpa.org/dtu.

ESPYs Host Danica Patrick Falls Flat in Opening Monologue

By BETH HARRIS AP Sports Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) _ Danica Patrick's monologue to open the ESPYs went over like, well, a flat tire at the Indianapolis 500.

The newly retired racecar driver was the first woman to host the annual show honoring the past year's best athletes and moments on Wednesday night in Los Angeles.

Her first joke about Cleveland fell flat. A crack about vertically challenged Astros second baseman Jose Altuve fell, uh, short too, although he managed a slight smile in the audience.

Patrick soldiered on, telling the audience, “We have to mention the elephant in the room. It's time to talk about the national anthem controversy.”

At that point, a photo of NBA All-Star Game anthem singer Fergie came on screen and Patrick said, “I don't know what Fergie was thinking either.”

Some athletes in the crowd sat stone-faced. Others looked uncomfortable or winced.

Social media wasn't impressed, either. A woman tweeted, “Am I the only one who thinks Danica Patrick is super awkward as host?”

Another person posted a GIF of comic Steve Carell grimacing with the caption: “These Danica Patrick jokes not hitting ... at all.”

Patrick did score with a few jokes. As a photo of a grinning Alex Ovechkin holding the Stanley Cup flashed behind her, Patrick said, “I haven't seen a Russian this pleased with Washington since two days ago.” Ovechkin's photo was replaced with one of Russian president Vladimir Putin, drawing laughs.

Patrick proved a good sport by taking aim at herself.

“Tiger Woods is back, sort of, I guess,” she said. “Why do people keep talking about this guy when he isn't winning? Who does he think he is? Me?” Patrick managed just one win in Japan on the IndyCar circuit during her career.

Patrick fared better in a taped spoof of the movie “I, Tonya,” renamed “I, Danica.” She played dual roles of herself and her alcohol-swilling mother. Patrick's real-life boyfriend, Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, played the same role wearing a mustache.

Also getting laughs was a bit in which Patrick was joined onstage by a young girl, part of “Dani-Kids” which Patrick explained was a program to help young kids achieve their dreams.

The youngster aspired to be a host like Patrick.

As a mock-horrified Patrick stood by, the youngster cracked age-inappropriate jokes. One of them involved LeBron James buying two houses in Brentwood as a black man causing the biggest stir in that upscale neighborhood since O.J. Simpson.

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LOS ANGELES NEWS OBSERVER

Thursday, July 26, 2018

Features/News

Mexican-American Heritage Explored in PBS Film

By RUSSELL CONTRERAS Associated Press ALBQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) _ Ted Williams is the last major league baseball player to hit over .400. The Boston Red Sox slugger captivated millions with his dazzling swing and towering homers throughout the 1940s and 1950s in competition with New York Yankees hero Joe DiMaggio.

But beneath the smiles and happy trots around the bases sat a man consumed with rage. For years, the baseball legend would shun his ethnic heritage and kept his family's past a secret. Only when he'd begin to speak out on behalf of black players would he begin to slowly reveal his connections to his Mexican-American Southern California family and the experiences that shaped him.

A new PBS “American Masters” documentary explores the life of Williams and his volatile relationships with his family and the press. The upcoming film uses rare footage and family interviews to paint a picture of an entangled figure who hid his past while enjoying the admiration of adoring fans. It includes unreleased color footage of Williams' final game that was shot by a fan.

Williams, often called the “greatest hitter who ever lived,” was followed closely by sports writers thanks to his superb slugging skills and John Wayne-like persona as a foul-mouth outdoorsman. But the future Hall of Famer regularly clashed with critical journalists and had public spats with his numerous wives.

The slugger also lost prime years because of service in World War II and the Korean War - something that angered him.

“We wanted to know...who was this man, who had such an

effect on so many people?” director Nick Davis said. “He was so complicated and so full of contradictions and rages. Where did it all come from?”

The San Diego-born Williams played 19 years as a left fielder for the Boston Red Sox where he won two American League Most Valuable Player Awards and twice took the Triple Crown.

He finished his career with a .344 batting average and 521 home runs, both of which rank among the top in baseball history.

While many of Williams' professional accomplishments and personal clashes were widely known, Davis said few knew about Williams' ethnic background until Ben Bradlee, Jr.'s wellresearched 2013 book, “The Kid: The Immortal Life of Ted Williams.”

Davis said Williams kept his Mexican-American heritage a secret at a time when no black players were allowed in the major leagues and the Red Sox were owned by Tom Yawkey, a controversial figure who was the last owner to integrate a major league baseball team.

Williams was born to Samuel Stuart Williams, a white photographer and pickle salesman, and May Venzor, a MexicanAmerican Salvation Army devotee who often volunteered in Tijuana, Mexico, leaving Williams and his brother to fend for themselves with their alcoholic father, Bradlee said. His Mexican family ended up in San Diego as tension simmered before the Mexican Revolution began in 1910.

It's a past Williams concealed until near the end of his life,

Ted Williams is the last major league baseball player to hit over .400. The Boston Red Sox slugger captivated millions with his dazzling swing and towering homers throughout the 1940s and 1950s in competition with New York Yankees hero Joe DiMaggio.

said Bradlee. “He was ashamed.”

After his sensational 1939 rookie year, Williams returned to San Diego to find around 20 of his Mexican-Americans relatives waiting for him at the train station. Williams took one look at them and fled.

Bradlee, who was among those interviewed for the film and who found some of Williams' cousins, said the family remained proud of his on-the-field achievements.

“But you can see they were a little bit hurt that he had shunned them,” Bradlee said.

In the film, daughter Claudia Williams said she would sometimes ask her father about his mother. But he refused to talk about her, or his past, she said.

Williams was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame as

soon as he became eligible. Williams wanted to use his speech to call for the Hall of Fame to recognize players of the Negro Leagues who had been excluded solely based on their skin color.

Friends would say Williams, despite his own ambivalence about his own background, remembered the discrimination Mexican Americans faced in California.

But baseball officials wanted Williams to drop the reference.

“You don't tell Ted Williams what he can and cannot do,” Claudia Williams said in the film.

Williams gave his Hall of Fame speech his way, and soon after, players of the Negro Leagues were inducted into the Hall of Fame.

American Masters “Ted Williams: `The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived”' airs on most PBS stations on Monday.

Investing in Black Universities Leave Lasting Legacys

By Dr. Harry L. Williams President & CEO, Thurgood Marshall College Fund Earlier this year, a man named Jack Weldon Patrick passed away in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. A long-time lawyer, Patrick was remembered as a family man, an advocate for social justice, and a respected community leader.

One day a check arrived by mail for the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) in memory of Jack Weldon Patrick. A few days later, another one arrived, and a few weeks later, another check. Individual donations kept coming to support the work of TMCF and our publicly-supported Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in honor of Jack. His obituary read, “in lieu of flowers the family suggests memorial donations in Jack’s name to causes he cared deeply about.” One of those causes was TMCF. So many of us outside of TMCF headquarters and Menomonee may have never known Jack as a stalwart of access and opportunity for students attending Black colleges. Many of us aren’t even aware that Jack was part of the reason why in 2016, private giving and contracts earned by HBCUs increased for a second straight year, posting a four-year high of $320 million.

But we do know he was a living embodiment of the famous quote

by Nelson Henderson: “The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.”

While philanthropic anonymity is honorable, philanthropic leadership helps organizations like TMCF reach new supporters, encouraging new donor circles to give. Showcasing the faces and stories of those who give is an important tool in cultivating similar donors, encouraging a culture of giving around our campuses. This is a critical strategy that grows an organization’s base of support every year. For non-profit organizations, individual giving is the largest type of charitable gift – four times the amount as the next largest category in 2015, according to Giving USA. Organizations like TMCF thrive due to the generosity of individuals who believe in our work and want to expand our

impact, through monthly and annual donations, as well as the legacy gift. TMCF combines these individuals’ gifts with foundation grants and partnerships with major corporations and government agencies to provide the funds that allow us to transform lives. It takes a philanthropic village to develop young minds, and we are humbled to be good stewards of the resources that our donors and partners entrust to us.

TMCF, its 47 member-schools and the nearly 300,000 students attending them each year, want to play a role in redefining HBCU philanthropy and support. The data on finances and the number of degrees we produce in areas like STEM, education, social sciences and criminal justice already show just how productive HBCUs continue to be in graduating Black students. Seventy percent of our publicly-supported HBCUs attendees are first generation college students (like I was) and eligible for Pell Grants. In comparison, the national average is only 37 percent for all public schools. By providing this quality education, students transform their lives and prepare to enter economically sustainable careers. Now TMCF wants to illustrate that same culture within our giving networks.

Anyone believing in the power of education to transform lives should invest in HBCUs. This includes alumni who want to have a tangible way to support their schools. All people in our networks at work, at church, in our communities, fraternities and sororities, and other circles of activity are worthy of soliciting for support. Age, earnings and personality are not elements for disqualifying those who might be willing to give, or those who have the capacity to do so.

TMCF member-schools like North Carolina Central University are experiencing record gains in gifts secured from younger donors. Texas Southern University recently raised more than $1M at its annual Maroon and Gray gala, an event which just in its second year which has cultivated new supporters for the university and has raised nearly $2M for student scholarships and Harry L. Williams, the president and CEO of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, says that anyone believing in the power of education to transform lives should invest in HBCUs. (Delaware State University)

institutional support.

So today, we honor one man—Jack Weldon Patrick—and his commitment to HBCUs, and we thank his friends and family for their continued investment in the work of TMCF. We hope his example encourages others to consider impacting people’s lives by supporting our nation’s HBCUs.

Harry L. Williams is the president and CEO of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, the largest organization exclusively representing the Black College Community. Before joining TMCF, he spent eight years as president of Delaware State University. Follow him on Twitter at @DrHLWilliams.

Black Female Pilot Oregon Food Cart Makes History in Owner Who Used National Guard Racial Slur Will Pay $1,000 From top left: Butch Coleman, Ray Coleman, Glenn Coleman, Angela Coleman (seen holding Maxwell). From bottom left: Reece Coleman, Belinda Coleman and Evan Coleman. Picture: Go Fund Me

Branson Duck Boat Tragedy Continued from page A1

signs more than 30 minutes before the boat sank.

Suzanne Smagala with Ripley Entertainment, which owns Ride the Ducks in Branson, said it was the company’s only accident in more than 40 years of operation. The company hasn’t commented on Coleman’s account of the tour, which usually begins with a tour of downtown Branson, known for its country shows and entertainment, before the vessel enters the lake for a short ride on the water.

Company President Jim Pattison Jr. said the boat captain had 16 years of experience, and the business monitors weather.

Twenty-nine passengers and two crew members were aboard.

Fourteen people survived, including two adults who remained hospitalized Saturday. Coleman and her 13-year-old nephew were the only of the 11 members of her family who boarded the boat to make it out alive.

Another survivor was 12-year-old Alicia Dennison, of Illinois, who says her grandmother, 64-year-old Leslie Dennison, saved her from drowning. Alicia’s father, Todd Dennison, told the Kansas City Star that his daughter recalled feeling her grandmother below her, pushing her upward after the boat capsized.

Another young survivor was 14-year-old Loren Smith of Osceola, Arkansas. She suffered a concussion, but her father, 53-year-old retired math teacher Steve Smith, and her 15-yearold brother, Lance, died.

Others killed included 65-year-old William Bright and his 63-year-old wife, Janice. The couple had recently celebrated their 45th wedding anniversary and had talked about Branson being one of their last big trips, recalled neighbor Barbara Beck.

The couple moved to Higginsville from Kansas City, Missouri, three years earlier to be closer to a daughter and grandchildren and quickly embraced small-town life.

William Bright’s final public Facebook posting noted the wedding anniversary and how happy he was with his wife, three kids and 16 grandchildren. Life, he wrote, had “been a lot of fun.”

Another Missouri couple killed in the accident were 69-yearold William Asher and 68-year-old Rosemarie Hamann. The St. Louis-area couple had been celebrating Hamman’s birthday earlier in the week. In a final Facebook photo posted by Hamann, he’s sticking his tongue out and she’s smiling.

“I can only imagine what they were going through. They were so in love. It’s just heartbreaking,” said friend Russ McKay, who said talked to Hamann the day before the accident.

McCay says Hamann told him the couple had just gone on a paddle boat and were planning to go again. He doesn’t know why they chose the duck boat instead.

Chance also brought the Colemans aboard the doomed vessel.

Tia Coleman said her family initially lined up for the wrong tour so they had to switch out their tickets for the 6:30 p.m. ride.

She says the crew showed passengers where the life jackets were but said they wouldn’t need them.

The company’s website had been taken down by Saturday, save for a statement that its operations would remain shuttered to support the investigation and allow time for families and the community to grieve.

Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board and U.S. Coast Guard were hoping a video recorder recovered from the boat would help provide some explanation on why it sank. NTSB member Earl Weener winds were 2 mph short of hurricane force at the time.

While the boat’s driver on water, 51-year-old Kenneth McKee, survived; its driver on land, 73-year-old Bob Williams, did not.

Branson Mayor Karen Best said Williams was a “great ambassador” for the city. Williams’ family in Rhode Island, where he’d lived for decades before retiring to Branson, remembered him as a deeply religious man who founded a local church.

“Pastor Bob was a prince of a man, loving, kind, and generous, whose loss to our family is incalculable,” said Williams’ son-in-law, Bishop Jeffery Williams, who now leads King’s Cathedral in Providence.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) _ The owner of a Portland food cart has agreed to pay $1,000 to a customer he physically and verbally attacked last month.

In exchange, charges of fourth-degree assault and harassment have been dismissed.

The owner, Islam El Masry, apparently became upset when the customer wanted to pay her $7 tab with coins. The owner eventually shoved the money back at her and called her a racial slur. He also sprayed hot sauce and threw a bottle of Gatorade at the woman, who is black.

Court records show El Masry and the customer signed a civil compromise to have charges dismissed.

El Masry declined comment to The Oregonian/ OregonLive on Monday.

In YouTube videos published after the incident, El Masry said he had been in a bad mood at the time of the confrontation because of business pressures and because he was cooking food while fasting for Ramadan.

Dulan’s

FORT RUCKER, Ala. (AP) _ An Alabama woman has made history as the first black female pilot in the state National Guard's history.

News outlets report that 2nd Lt. Kayla Freeman of Huntsville graduated from Fort Rucker's Army Aviation School last month, following her 2016 graduation from Tuskegee University where she was enrolled in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps.

Freeman's aviator wings were pinned by retired Col. Christine Knighton, the second black woman in the Department of Defense to earn aviator wings and the first from Georgia.

Freeman says Knighton has been an inspiration since college and “it was only right” to have her do the pinning.

Her assignment as a black female pilot was also applauded

by Maj. Gen. Sheryl Gordon, the Alabama National Guard's first female general and the first female to serve as adjutant general for the state.

“We take the ideals of equal opportunity very seriously and we're extremely proud of 2nd Lt. Freeman's achievements,” Gordon said in an Army news release. “She is further proof that we don't see race or gender in the Alabama Guard, we see soldiers and airmen and their potential.”

Freeman is currently at Fort Hood in Texas, where she is preparing to deploy to the Middle East as a platoon leader in the Alabama National Guard's 1-169th Aviation Battalion.

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Entertainment

Thursday, July 26, 2018

LOS ANGELES NEWS OBSERVER A5

Real-life BFFs Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal – stars and co-writers of the comedy-drama “Blindspotting”

A Lifelong Friendship Fuels the Chemistry of

BLINDSPOTTING

By JOCELYN NOVECK AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) _ Daveed Diggs was busy. Too busy. The actor was doing eight shows a week as Jefferson/ Lafayette in the Broadway sensation “Hamilton,” and wasn’t answering his emails.

So there was only one thing his writing partner and creative soulmate, Rafael Casal, could do: Move across the country, and set up camp in Diggs’ dressing room.

“Every night, he’d just be there at intermission,” Diggs laughs now. “He had to move to New York for us to maintain a level of creative output.”

With the opening this week of “Blindspotting,” their Oakland, California-based, rap-infused feature film debut, the duo is earning buzz for the onscreen chemistry that gives the film its energy. That chemistry, in turn, is fueled by a nearly two-decade friendship and a creative synergy that both men call remarkable.

“As long as I’ve known him, I’ve never had an idea that I didn’t run by him, and that includes character choices in ‘Hamilton,”’ Diggs, 36, said recently over tea in New York. “I don’t have a ton of things that don’t involve him, and even if they don’t in name, realistically they still involve him.”

To Casal, 32, a spoken-word artist, what’s most rare is how versatile the partnership is. “You pick your partners in the trenches because they make you better,” he says. “What’s unique about our dynamic is that it’s cross-medium - film, music, theater, television. That’s not even a once-in-a-lifetime thing, because many people go through life and it never happens.”

Though “Blindspotting,” directed by Carlos Lopez Estrada, is a buddy film _ both comic and tragic _ it’s also very much about a place: Oakland, a town both men hold dear. It’s there, in the Bay Area, that they first met, at Berkeley High School. They didn’t become friends right away, because Casal was a freshman and Diggs a senior. “That might as well be a 50-year gap,” Casal quips.

Diggs went off to Brown University, where he ran track and studied theater. By the time he came back, Casal, who’d made a name for himself on HBO’s “Def Poetry Jam,” had opened a recording studio and needed artists.

“Somebody played me his music. I loved it. He came by, and we just hit it off,” Casal says. “From then on, all I remember is him being around.”

It was nearly a decade ago that they began work on “Blindspotting,” the story of Collin (Diggs), who has three days left on probation for a violent incident, and Miles (Casal), his mercurial, unpredictable best friend. Collin witnesses a police shooting of an unarmed black man; the two must navigate the next few days together, each in his own way, in an Oakland that is rapidly changing. The film explores themes of race, economics, gentrification - and friendship.

Back in 2009, when they started the project, Oscar Grant had just been killed by a San Francisco transit officer. “His face was everywhere,” says Diggs. “There were rallies and protests and riots.” It became a key element in early drafts.

The pair wondered how their idea would fly. “It’s a hard sell,

a race-politics comedy-drama that’s in verse,” says Casal. “But it’s the movie we wanted to make.”

The project came close to being made a few times, and then didn’t, for various reasons over the years. Meanwhile, their lives changed.

“In the early days, it was the two of us huddled over one laptop,” Diggs says. “Long drives up and down the I-5 between Oakland and LA, trying to impress (producers Jess and Keith Calder) and pretend we knew how to write a script.”

Casal recalls nights in LA sleeping “in one of our crappy cars. Trying to pretend we weren’t so poor that we had to sleep in our cars.”

It seemed like the movie was about to happen when suddenly Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “Hamilton” came up for Diggs.

They figured it would be a quick project for a few months. It turned out to be - well, “Hamilton.”

Diggs won a 2016 Tony Award, and left the show the next month. A slew of opportunities, including TV’s “black-ish,” awaited. In early 2017, Casal was home watching “Moonlight” win the Oscar. He was so happy, “I drunk-texted one of our producers and said, ‘I wish we had made OUR ‘Moonlight.’ And then they said, ‘What if we made it right now?’ And I was like, I don’t know, Diggs is really famous, and really busy.”

But it turned out that Diggs, who was involved in at least four projects, would have exactly 22 days free that June. “You know the script isn’t ready, right?” he told Casal, who suggested he could move to LA and grind it out, calling Diggs every night with updates. “To me it sounded like an insane undertaking,” Diggs says. But he was in. He adds: “There’s nobody else I would trust to write raps for me.”

The duo makes clear that “Hamilton” wasn’t the reason the film got made _ in fact, it interrupted things. But Diggs’ rising fame has made it a lot easier to sell the film. “I think my name opens some doors now,” the actor says. “A lot more people will see it. Which is great.”

The film screened on opening day at Sundance. What was most gratifying, both men say, is how eager people were to discuss it afterward _ and argue. “The best works of art are ones you come away from and want to talk about,” Diggs says. “We’d have been disappointed if everybody walked away with exactly the same feeling.”

The two have lots more going on. “I think we just cherish it,” Casal says of the partnership.

“Somebody referred to us as platonic life mates,” laughs Diggs. “It’s a pretty apt description.”

‘Equalizer 2’ squeaks Past ‘Mamma Mia 2’ and Takes Top Spot

By LINDSEY BAHR AP Film Writer In the battle of two very different sequels at the box office this weekend, Denzel Washington’s action pic “The Equalizer 2” has narrowly won out over the ABBA jukebox musical “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again.”

Studios on Sunday estimate that the R-rated Denzel Washington joint grossed $35.8 million from North American theaters over the weekend. It’s Washington’s first ever sequel and the biggest opening of director Antoine Fuqua’s career. The first “Equalizer,” from 2014, opened similarly and went on to earn over $190 million worldwide.

Second place went to Universal Pictures’ “Mamma Mia 2,” which took in $34.4 million, a sum that was driven by an audience that was 83 percent female and 64 percent over the age of 25. The film brought back much of the original cast, like Meryl

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Streep, Amanda Seyfried and Pierce Brosnan, and added Cher, Andy Garcia and Lily James to the mix. Critics overall gave the sequel better marks than the first, which still went on to gross over $600 million worldwide 10 years ago.

“We consider this a terrific opening,” said Jim Orr, Universal’s president of domestic distribution. “And knowing the audience for these types of films, we are going to have a very healthy run at the domestic and worldwide box office. This is a very fun, very uplifting movie that people need right now.”

It’s also a rare showdown of two star-driven films that succeeded in targeting two very different audiences.

“It’s amazing how well-matched these contenders are,” said comScore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian. “Both studios really did a great job of marketing each of these movies to their target audience. It’s classic counter-programming.”

Sequels powered the top six spots at the domestic box office this weekend and eight out of the top 10 overall. “Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation” came in third with $23.2 million in its second weekend, “Ant-Man and the Wasp” took fourth place with $16.1 million in its third weekend, “Incredibles 2” landed in fifth with $11.5 million, and “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” came in sixth with $11 million.

The weekend’s other big new opener, “Unfriended: Dark Web,” also a sequel, scared up $3.5 million for a ninth-place start.

The only two originals in the top 10 were “Skyscraper” and “Sorry to Bother You.” “People are enjoying these films,” said Dergarabedian. “It doesn’t matter if there’s a number after the title.”

And yet there are still original films and documentaries making their own modest impact on the charts, including “Blindspotting,” a buddy comedy with some serious themes about race and class starring Tony-winner Daveed Diggs that opened in 14 theaters and made an estimated $332,500.

“Movies like ‘Sorry to Bother You’ and ‘Blindspotting’ are showing that in the summer people don’t live by blockbusters

alone,” Dergarabedian said.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to comScore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

1. ”The Equalizer 2,” $35.8 million.

2. "Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again,” $34.4 million.

3. "Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation,” $23.2 million.

4. "Ant-Man and the Wasp,” $16.1 million.

5. "Incredibles 2,” $11.5 million.

6. "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom,” $11 million.

7. "Skyscraper,” $11 million.

8. "The First Purge,” $5 million.

9. "Unfriended: Dark Web,” $3.5 million.

10. "Sorry to Bother You,” $2.8 million.

Hairspray: 30 Years Ago

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Denzel Washington and Ashton Sanders in The Equalizer 2.

Divine and Ricki Lake starred in John Waters’ Hairspray 30 years ago.

By MICHAEL CIDONI LENNOX Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) - Ricki Lake never in her wildest dreams thought she'd be celebrating the 30th anniversary of the film “Hairspray” at the lofty Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

“I never thought the movie was going to come out, let alone have this life span. And for me to be alive 30 years later, for me to be turning 50 in two months ... you know, it's all kind of surreal,” she said.

Most of the film's surviving stars, as well as its writer-director John Waters, gathered Monday at the Academy for a special screening of the film, hosted by Oscar-winning Barry Jenkins, the writer-director of “Moonlight.”

Jenkins was just age 8 when the film was released, but he said his parents were big fans of the period comedy, set in 1962 Baltimore. It's about a teen-dance TV show that is rocked when a short, plump dynamo - the adorable Tracy Turnblad - unseats Amber Von Tussle, the nasty blond beauty who long has been the reigning queen. Turmoil ensues when Tracy suggests producers stop limiting black dancers’ appearances and pushes for the show to be fully integrated.

Jenkins noted that Waters’ script is loosely based on real events.

“In real life, that show never integrated. It just went off the air rather than integrate,” Jenkins said. “I think John gives us this very happy, hopeful ending, by having the show integrate at the end of his version of the film. So I think, even in that, you see that

he was trying to say that it is possible for us to come together.”

As for the film's pro-integration message, Waters noted: “It was a sneak attack. It was a Trojan horse. It was the only radical movie I ever made, because it snuck in middle America. And they didn't notice. I mean, they didn't notice the message. Well, they did notice the message. But I've said that even racists like `Hairspray.”'

Before “Hairspray,” Waters had directed just a handful of features that earned him a cult following. But “Hairspray” was his breakthrough, marking his introduction to mainstream audiences.

It also marked a breakthrough for American actor, singer and drag queen Divine, who portrayed Tracy's mother Edna.

Divine died of complications from an enlarged heart just a little more than a week after the film's wide release.

Blondie lead singer and “Hairspray” actress Debbie Harry remembered her co-star.

“Divine was very generous and relaxed and sort of soulful and there's that soft voice,” Harry recalled. “And then we had to struggle during the scene of the exploding hair. And I had bruises on my arms. Mother was very strong!”

“Hairspray” featured a cameo appearance by recording artist and actress Pia Zadora, who said she wasn't surprised by the film's long life. It eventually was adapted into a Broadway musical, a musical feature, and also a musical television production.

“I mean, John _ you can't deny this guy knows what the hell he's doing,” Zadora said. “It was right. It was just right.”

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LOS ANGELES NEWS OBSERVER

Thursday, July 26, 2018

Flag Burning in Front of the Offices of Maxine Waters

By CHRISTOPHER WEBER Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) _ A small crowd that gathered Thursday outside the Los Angeles office of U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters to counter an expected protest by a self-styled militia group burned an American flag taken from the back of a pickup truck.

The incident happened after the far-right Oath Keepers group didn't appear at the office after saying it would rally against the congresswoman.

A group of counter-protesters there to support Waters were chanting “black power” and other slogans when the pickup approached.

The vehicle, occupied by two men who appeared to be white, was stopped by the crowd. Some marchers opened the doors and one grabbed the flag flying on a pole in the bed of the truck, which sped off.

The flag was stepped on and lit on fire as someone stoked the flames. A few people cheered and someone yelled, “This is not the American flag, this is their flag.”

No one was injured or arrested. Police wouldn't immediately say whether they were investigating.

Attempts to reach a representative for Waters were unsuccessful.

The congresswoman, an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump, sparked anger among conservatives after she called on the public to “push back” on administration officials spotted in public.

The Oath Keepers called Waters a “protest terrorist inciter” and said members intended to “stand against terrorism, stand for freedom of speech and association, in support of ICE/Border Patrol as they enforce constitutional immigration laws.”

The gathering was planned for the early afternoon but police said then that authorities had been informed by Oath Keepers that the demonstration was called off.

“The Oath Keepers would like nothing more than to inflame racial tensions and create an explosive conflict in our community,” Waters said in a statement a day earlier urging counter-protesters to stay away.

A few dozen counter-protesters including union workers, church leaders, South Los Angeles residents and members of activist groups gathered peacefully outside the office at midday.

Some held signs proclaiming “Black, brown and labor unity!” and “Resist!”

“These people are coming here to cause problems,” said Cliff Smith, an organizer with United Union of Roofers Waterproofers and Allied Workers Local No. 36. “Violent right wing groups have no business here.”

Teen Acquitted in So. LA Gang Killing

Members of a “black power” group doused an American flag in lighter fluid, burned it, and placed their fists over the charred remains outside the Los Angeles office of Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) on Thursday after they seized the flag from a passing truck.

Asylum Seekers

Wait Time Questioned

LOS ANGELES (AP) - An 18-year-old man was acquitted Monday for his alleged role in a gang-related killing in South Los Angeles last year when he was a senior at a suburban high school.

Cameron Terrell was found not guilty of one count of murder and two counts of attempted murder, City News Service reported. He had pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Prosecutors said the white teen from upscale Palos Verdes allegedly joined a predominantly black Los Angeles street gang.

Terrell was identified in a complaint with the moniker “White Boy.” Police said he drove the car involved in the October 2017 shooting death of Justin Holmes, 21. Holmes had no gang affiliations, authorities said. Two juveniles were arrested along with Terrell and were charged with murder.

Surveillance video showed the 16-year-old alleged shooter and the other teenager jumping into the back seat of a black Mercedes-Benz sedan after the shooting. The car was registered to Terrell's father and was typically driven by Terrell, investigators said.

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Defense attorney Jovan Blacknell told jurors his client didn't know anyone was going to be shot on a Sunday in broad daylight.

“Cameron didn't expect to hear gunshots. He didn't expect any of this to happen,” said Blacknell, questioning why Terrell would drive “his daddy's car” if he knew there was going to be a shooting.

A police officer testified at a previous hearing that a photo found by investigators on the defendant's cellphone showed a young man who appeared to be Terrell making a hand sign derogatory to a rival gang.

Terrell was released from custody last year on a $5 million bond. His family pulled him from classes at Palos Verdes High School after other parents labeled him as a danger to students.

Terrell's attorney has said his client is working toward finishing his high school education. He did not say whether Terrell is being home-schooled or attending classes elsewhere.

The status of the case against the two teens arrested with Terrell was not immediately available.

&

By ELLIOT SPAGAT Associated Press SAN DIEGO (AP) - The Trump administration and the American Civil Liberties Union failed to agree on how much time parents should have to decide whether to seek asylum after they are reunited with their children who were separated at the U.S.-Mexico border, the Justice Department said Tuesday.

The administration proposed a four-day waiting period, three days shorter than the ACLU proposed, according to government filing in federal court.

The longer waiting period would increase costs and occupy limited beds, David Jennings, an official at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said in a declaration filed with the court. It costs $319 a day to detain a family member, and there are about 2,500 to 2,700 beds nationwide to house families.

U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw imposed a temporary halt last week on deporting reunified families after the ACLU requested the one-week waiting period, citing “persistent and increasing rumors ... that mass deportations may be carried out imminently and immediately upon reunification.” The ACLU argued parents needed the time to discuss whether to seek asylum with their children, lawyers and advocates.

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There have been 1,187 children reunified with their parents or “other appropriate discharges,” which include guardians and sponsors, according to Monday's filing.

More than 1,600 parents were considered eligible for reunification, including 217 who have been released into the United States. About 900 more are considered “either not eligible, or not yet known to be eligible, for reunification.”

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The two sides appeared close to an agreement on Monday when they jointly requested a 24-hour extension to iron out differences.

Sabraw was scheduled to consider the dispute at his seventh hearing on the case this month on Tuesday. He will also review the status of efforts to reunify more than 2,500 ages 5 and older by a court-imposed deadline on Thursday.

He imposed a July 10 deadline for dozens of children under 5.

On Monday, the administration said in a court filing that 463 parents may not be in the United States. It said those findings are based on case notes and are under review, signaling the number could change.

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