April 5, 2017 issue of The Egalitarian

76/53 Mainly sunny during the day. Clear skies at night.

Wednesday, April 5, 2017 • Vol. 44, No. 6 • www.HCCEgalitarian.com • @HCC_Egalitarian

In Today’s Issue

Agency gets wall pitches U.S. Customs and Border Protection begins receiving bids for President Trump’s border wall.

see News, Page 3

HCC Photo Club explores NOLA Skarleth Velasquez

svelasquez@hccegalitarian.com

The Beautiful Struggle HCC student, poet/activist Justice “DOAP” Miller, uses her words and deeds to speak for herself, others.

see Community, Page 4

Astros win 2017 opener Keuchel, Astros blank Seattle 3-0 at Minute Maid Park in season opener, the fifth-straight season-opening win for Houston.

see Sports, Page 9

On March 23, the Houston Community College Photo Club took a 4-day trip to New Orleans.

The club which usually hosts photo-walks for students to gather and shoot at different locations in Houston, this time wanted to take it a step further and travel outside of the city.

HCC student and President of the club Merary Montes said, “We wanted to go outside of Houston. I remember our Vice President Jonhel Pipkin mentioned going to New Orleans for a photoshoot last December.

There was just something about New Orleans, the culture, the history and the people. It was something that was accessible, and not so much of a long drive.”

The students left Houston on Thursday around 5am and drove nonstop until arriving in New Orleans where they checked into the Airbnb house they had rented.

“We basically spent the first day traveling and getting settled.

We had to buy groceries and get everything for the weekend because it wasn’t a hotel, so we had to go and get our own things.” Said Montes.

(Picture: left to right, Mike Marshall, Andrea Aranda, Merary Montes in the French Quarter. Photo by Victor Hugo, Photography Student and Photo Club member.)

It was very convenient for the club that the house they were staying at was close to the French Quarter. They were able

to walk and shoot some pictures on their way there.

HCC student and club historian Mike Marshall said “The NOLA trip was fantastic.

We all shared a big house that was within walking distance to the French Quarter, so getting out to shoot was always convenient and interesting.”

“On our way there we found a lot of old houses and interesting looking cars. When we got to the French quarter we started to see the different stores, the people walking in the street, the jazz bands. There was a lot going on.” Said Montes.

Student Mario Mendioza also said “The French Quarter was really wild. There were times when you were walking around and people were trying to hook you up with drinks or to go to clubs.”

The group visited Bourbon Street, the French Quarter, St. Louis Cemetery #2 and also did some exploring through the neighborhood and communities in the city.

For the first day, the group stayed together, but there were other times were some of the members would go out and shoot separately. “One of our members Daniel Fernandez had a drone and he was flying the drone through the city.

That was the cool thing, there was people who were doing drone photography, I was doing phonography (photography with your phone), people were shooting with DSLR cameras, Mirrorless, everybody was doing their own thing,” said Montes.

“It’s always fun to get involved with a group of likeminded people who share your same passion for photography, and of course, the club hosts all kinds of photo events which help you become a stronger artist. Many events are just fun, but some of them kind of force you outside of your comfort zone, and drive you to take more interesting photos than you normally would. There’s never any pressure or judgement. We include people from all levels of photography, from people taking snapshots with their phones to semi-professionals with tripods and bags full of gear.”

Aside from visiting popular places like the French quarter, the club also did their own exploring.

“Personally, my favorite part of the trip was visiting the abandoned power station which has been featured in a number of big Hollywood films like ‘Oblivion’ and ‘Terminator Genesis’.”

Said Marshall.

“The plant was huge. Tons of stairways and dark passageways spread out across multiple floors. Lots of history in that place. Plus, there was a heavy thunderstorm at the time with loud banging and wind blowing through the rotting walls, which added a very surreal sense to the whole experience. I can’t wait to start editing my photos from inside the plant.”

Vice President Johnel Pipkin said his best memory from the trip was walking into the French Quarter and seeing a huge group

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of people gathered on a corner.

“The crowd was so large that it spilled into the street, at least 150 people. There was a band playing, a 15-man jazz band with every type of horn and drum. They turned that corner, during that time, into something magical. It was really amazing to see.”

Aside from the fun of exploring the city, the members also got a chance to get to know one another better and share more photography knowledge.

[As a member of the club myself, I can abide that this is a club for learning and bettering your photography skills. Not only for photography students but also for anyone interested in photography or with a passion for it.]

“New Orleans was definitely a great opportunity for getting to know people from the club better, and we all got along great. “said Marshall. “Everyone shared the same desire to explore the city and take interesting photos.

This was my first time to visit New Orleans since childhood, and I really enjoyed the culture.

The city is still recovering from the devastation of Katrina, and you can’t help but feel sad when driving around and so many places are abandoned or destroyed. But there’s also a great sense of community, and that was always on display no matter where we went. I’m very much looking forward to visiting again soon. And I also look forward to the club putting together more road trips like this in the future.”

2 Civil rights groups alarmed over retreat on police reforms The Egalitarian

Wednesday April 5, 2017

Civil rights groups reacted

Errin Haines Whack & Sadie Gurman Associated Press

with alarm Tuesday, while law enforcement organizations expressed relief, after the Trump administration signaled it may back out of federal agreements that compel several police departments around the U.S. to curb racial bias and excessive force.

In a memo made public this week, Attorney General Jeff Sessions ordered a review of all Justice Department consent decrees that force police departments to overhaul their practices, saying, “It is not the responsibility of the federal government to manage nonfederal law enforcement agencies.”

Consent decrees, which are enforceable by the courts, were put in place by the Obama Justice Department in such racially fraught cities as Cleveland and Ferguson, Missouri. A decree worked out under the Obama administration is awaiting approval in Baltimore, which erupted in riots in 2015

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over the death of Freddie Gray in police custody. And an agreement is being negotiated in Chicago.

NAACP President Cornell Brooks called the move by the Trump Justice Department “somewhere between chilling and alarming.”

“Consent decrees are the means by which you provide a hedge of protection, civil rights and civil liberties,” Brooks said. “Why would our attorney general upend and undo that? This review and potential reversal represents a potentially catastrophic, life-ordeath consequence for cities where citizens feel like they’re under siege.”

But James Pasco, executive director of the Fraternal Order of Police, welcomed Sessions’ memo as “gratifying.”

“If a consent decree is warranted, a consent decree should be imposed,” Pasco said.

“But in a lot of places, decrees are punitive in nature and do absolutely nothing to improve the climate of the city.”

He complained that consent decrees can make police officers

On Campus

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Patrick Semansky/AP File Photo A boy sits on a wall as a member of the Baltimore Police Department walks by in the Penn North neighborhood of Baltimore, near the site of unrest following Freddie Gray’s funeral. Baltimore’s mayor and commissioner say they are eager and ready to change not only the culture of law enforcement, but the practice. look like villains, when “the vast majority of police officers are performing heroically every day.”

The Sessions memo represents a dramatic break with the Obama administration, which saw the federal government as essential to holding local police departments accountable for unconstitutional practices. Consent decrees have been used to force departments to overhaul training on the use of deadly force and to root out mistreatment of blacks and Hispanics.

President Donald Trump has taken an emphatic pro-police, lawand-order stand. And in signaling

a possible retreat from consent decrees, Sessions advanced what has been dubbed the “Ferguson effect” — the unproven theory that heavy scrutiny of police has made them less aggressive, leading to a spike in crime in cities like Chicago.

“The misdeeds of a few bad actors should not impugn or undermine the legitimate and honorable work that law enforcement officers and agencies perform in keeping American communities safe,” Sessions wrote in the memo dated Friday.

Gwen Carr, the mother of Eric Garner, a black man who died after a New York City officer

put him in a chokehold in 2014, expressed frustration over the Trump administration stand, saying, “When all else fails, the federal government is our safety net.”

“In a case like this, if we don’t get an indictment, who do we turn to if the attorney general is going to look the other way and say, ‘Hey, it’s not my fight,’” Carr said.

The Obama Justice Department opened roughly two dozen investigations of police departments, and 14 of them ended in consent decrees, including in Miami; Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Newark, New Jersey.

HCC POLICE BLOTTER (Incidents complied from HCC Crime Log updated daily & available at http://bit.ly/2mhVOjj CENTRAL CAMPUSES

Offense: Graffiti Reported on: March 29 at 9:57 p.m.

Location: Central-Midtown Campus, Fine Arts Center Parking Garage Description: Graffiti was found by a patrol officer in a stairwell.

Offense: Burglary of Vehicle Incident occurred on: March 28 between 9-11 a.m.

Location: Central - South Campus, Willie Gay Hall Description: Student’s vehicle was burglarized after she left her windows down. Property was stolen from the vehicle’s interior.

Offense: Disorderly Conduct Incident occurred on: March 27 at 4:50 p.m.

Location: Central-Midtown Campus Description: An unknown adult male spit on an employee’s vehicle and used abusive language during a parking dispute.

Offense: Burglary of Vehicle Incident occurred on: March 24 between 8 a.m.-3:30 p.m.

Location: Central-Midtown Campus, Parking Lot 9 Description: Unknown suspect attempted to burglarize a student’s vehicle while the student was in class.

Offense: Assault Occurred on: March 22 at 2:45 p.m.

Location: Central-Midtown Campus, San Jacinto Memorial Description: Employee’s ex-husband threatened her when he picked up his property from her.

The suspect fled before police were notified.

Offense: Theft Reported on: March 22 at 5:34 p.m.

Location: Central-Midtown Campus, Business Center Description: Unknown male shoplifted food at the bookstore and fled on foot.

Offense: Indecency with a Child Occurred on: March 21 at 4:51 p.m.

Location: Central - Midtown Campus, Fine Arts Center Parking Garage Description: A 15-year-old female student and a 21-year-old male student were discovered kissing and groping in the Central parking garage stairwell. Prosecution was declined and the minor was turned over to her family.

NORTHEAST CAMPUSES

Offense: Criminal Trespass Incident occurred on: March 28 at 4:08 p.m.

Location: Northline Campus, 8001

Fulton Description: Adult males, non-students, were issued a criminal trespass warning after they were found consuming beer on campus.

One of the men was a person of interest in another case.

Offense: Criminal Trespass Incident occurred on: March 27 at 9:40 p.m.

Location: Northline Campus, 8001 Fulton Description: Adult male, non-student, was bathing his genitals at the bus stop. He was issued a criminal trespass warning and escorted from the campus.

NORTHWEST CAMPUSES

Offense: Failure to Stop and Give Information Occurred on: March 22 at 10:1511:50 a.m.

Location: Spring Branch Campus Building Description: Student’s vehicle was struck while he was in class.

Offense: Burglary of Vehicle Occurred on: March 21 between 5:50-7:40 p.m.

Location: Spring Branch Campus Description: After misplacing his car keys, a student’s vehicle was burglarized and his property was

stolen.

SOUTHEAST CAMPUSES

Offense: Criminal Mischief Incident occurred on: March 29 at 7:30 p.m.

Location: Eastside Campus, Workforce Building Description: Adult female student was arrested after she dumped a can of soda water over a computer following a disturbance.

Offense: Criminal Trespass Occurred on: March 22 at 1:50 p.m.

Location: Eastside Campus, Workforce Building Description: Former student was arrested and charged after he returned to campus. He was previously warned not to return to HCC property.

SOUTHWEST CAMPUSES

Offense: Theft Incident occurred on: March 25 between 6-7:00 p.m.

Location: Stafford Campus, Scarcella Description: Money was stolen from a student’s unattended backpack.

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Arrests at border steadily in decline

News

Wednesday April 5, 2017

Michael Tarm

AP Legal Affairs Writer

Associated Press

Rodrigo Abd/AP Photo A man in Nogales, Ariz., talks to his daughter and her mother who are standing on the other side of the border fence in Nogales, Mexico. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly says arrests of people entering the United States illegally across the Mexican border plummeted in March 2017. That’s a signal that fewer people are trying to sneak into the U.S. It’s also unclear if migrants are waiting south of the border to see how Trump’s border security efforts and plans for a wall develop.

In his testimony for the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Kelly said fewer than 12,500 people were caught crossing the border illegally last month. That compares with more than 43,000 in December.

Kelly told lawmakers that the number of families and children traveling alone — groups that accounted for hundreds of thousands of illegal border crossers in recent years — also declined steeply. Last month fewer than 1,000 children were caught at the border and fewer than 1,100 people traveling as families were found. In recent years most of the families and children traveling alone have been from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala.

Kelly has said his agency is considering separating parents and children as a way to dissuade parents from making the trek from Central America.

News of the dramatic decrease in arrests comes on the same day that proposals for Trump’s border wall were due to the government. Last month, Customs and Border Protection published two notices asking for private companies to bid on the project. The government intended to have successful bidders build prototypes in San Diego this year before selecting a final design.

Homeland Security spokesman David Lapan told reporters Tuesday that while the Trump administration’s budget request for a more than $2 billion down payment on the wall appears unlikely to win approval in Congress this year, Homeland Security has the money to start the process and fund the prototypes.

Border agency fields border wall pitches Elliot Spagat Associated Press

SAN DIEGO — One bidder wants to cover President Donald Trump’s border wall with solar panels. Another suggests building a wall large enough for a deck that would offer tourists scenic views of the desert.

In the competition to build the wall, traditional bids are interspersed with more whimsical ideas.

As Tuesday’s deadline for bids passed, U.S. Customs and Border Protection declined to identify bidders or say how many there were, which is standard practice in government contracting. The federal government expects to announce around June 1 which companies will be hired to build prototypes.

Designs must be able to repel pickaxes and sledgehammers for at least an hour and be aesthetically pleasing from the north side.

Trump’s multibillion-dollar plan promises potentially big

3

Court: Civil Rights law protects LGBT

Alicia A. Caldwell WASHINGTON — Arrests of people caught trying to sneak into the United States across the Mexican border plummeted in March to the lowest monthly figure in more than 17 years, the head of the Department of Homeland Security reported.

That’s a likely sign that fewer immigrants are trying to make the trek into the United States.

Secretary John Kelly said the steep decline in arrests is “no accident” and credited President Donald Trump’s approach to illegal immigration.

Kelly reported the figures in written testimony submitted to a Senate committee ahead of an appearance Wednesday. The Associated Press obtained a copy of his testimony.

Though the Trump administration has not yet changed how the border is patrolled, the president’s tough talk on immigration — including plans to build a border wall — and his stepped-up arrests of immigrants living in the country illegally have likely acted as deterrents.

It’s unclear if the declines will continue.

The number of people caught trying to enter the United States typically increases as the weather warms. Arrests during the normally slower winter months were higher than in past years. It is possible that some migrants rushed to the border after the election and before Trump took office.

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profits but also risks inviting a backlash from people who oppose the project.

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mexico said last week that Mexican companies expressing interest were betraying their country.

“This isn’t the kind of project that you’d want to put in your portfolio, said Gene Grabowski, a partner in kglobal, a Washington public-relations firm. “Unlike a dam or bridge, this is one where the risk of being associated with the political philosophy of the administration can be damaging to current and future business.”

That did not stop some companies from releasing their plans — some traditional, some more imaginative.

Concrete Contractors Interstate proposed a polished concrete wall augmented with stones and artifacts that are tailored to different sections of the 2,000mile border.

“The idea is to make the wall a piece of art,” said Russ Baumgartner, chief executive

DarkPulse Technologies Inc via AP This undated rendering provided by DarkPulse Technologies Inc. shows a proposed border wall between Mexico and the U.S. The wall proposed by Arizona-based DarkPulse Technologies would be constructed with ballistic concrete that can withstand tampering or attacks of any kind, according to founder Dennis O’Leary. “You could fire a tank round at it and it will take the impact,” he told The Associated Press. officer of the San Diego-based company.

Gleason Partners LLC of Las Vegas said its solar panels would generate 2 megawatts of electricity an hour. Both proposals were first reported by The San Diego UnionTribune.

“For the younger generation, they say if there is going to be a wall, let’s have it be green,” said Gleason Managing Partner Thomas Gleason.

The other specifications, like preventing people from digging tunnels beneath the wall, will eliminate some designs immediately. Winners must also

have done border security or similar projects worth $25 million or more in the past five years.

A U.S. official with knowledge of the plans who spoke on condition of anonymity because the details have not been made public said four to 10 bidders are expected to be chosen to build prototypes for $200,000 to $500,000 each.

The prototypes will be constructed on a quarter-mile (400-meter) strip of federally owned land in San Diego within 120 feet (37 meters) of the border, though a final decision has not been made on the precise spot, the official said.

CHICAGO — A federal appeals court ruled for the first time Tuesday that the 1964 Civil Rights Act protects LGBT employees from workplace discrimination, setting up a likely battle before the Supreme Court as gay rights advocates push to broaden the scope of the 53-year-old law.

The decision by the full 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago comes just three weeks after a three-judge panel in Atlanta ruled the opposite, saying employers aren’t prohibited from discriminating against employees based on sexual orientation.

It also comes as President Donald Trump’s administration has begun setting its own policies on LGBT rights. Late in January, the White House declared Trump would enforce an Obama administration order barring companies that do federal work from workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual identity. But in February, it revoked guidance on transgender students’ use of public school bathrooms, deferring to states.

The case stems from a lawsuit

by Indiana teacher Kimberly Hively alleging that the Ivy Tech Community College in South Bend didn’t hire her full time because she is a lesbian.

Hively said she agreed to bring the case because she felt she was being “bullied.”

She told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that the time has come “to stop punishing people for being gay, being lesbian, being transgender.”

The Chicago ruling followed a so-called en banc hearing of all the judges in the appeals court, with eight agreeing that the civil rights law prohibits discrimination because of sexual orientation, and three dissenting.

The vote is notable because the 7th Circuit is considered a relatively conservative appeals court. Eight out of the 11 judges were appointed

by Republican presidents.

“This decision is game changer for lesbian and gay employees facing discrimination in the workplace and sends a clear message to employers: it is against the law to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation,” said Greg Nevins, Employment Fairness Program Director for Lambda Legal, which brought the case on behalf of Hively.

The issue could still land before the Supreme Court at some point.

A GOP-majority House and Senate make it unlikely the Congress will amend the Civil Rights Act, which outlaws discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin and requires equal access to public places and employment.

Community The Beautiful Struggle of Poetic Justice 4

Wednesday April 5, 2017

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Jimmieka Mills

jmills@hccegalitarian.com

“Out of all the things I thought I would be, homeless was not one of them.”

Poet, activist and Houston Community College student, Justice Butler aka DOAP has experienced many challenges in her life, but becoming homeless was a considerable low.

Things weren’t always bad, she worked at a Verizon Wireless call center doing Technical support for 7 years before the call center closed and she found herself without an occupation or housing.

“For a month I slept in the back of my friend’s truck, until it was involved in an accident. From that point I was staying wherever I could.”

Her situation would teach her a valuable lesson about the way society views those experiencing homelessness “What I learned from living on the street is that all homeless people are put in one category.

You’ve got people with alcohol issues, drug issues, mental issues, physical disabilities, people who are military veterans that shouldn’t be out there but you don’t know any of that because you’re putting them all in one category. I lost my job I don’t know anything about this life. I’m standing here talking to people whose lives have been nothing like mine. I admit that I thought like that before I found myself homeless.

Their struggles had always been struggles.

My story was totally different. I had come from the working world.”

After her grandmother’s passing Justice began taking courses at San Antonio Image courtesy of Eduardo Perme college as a way to deal with her loss but quickly found that the trauma was too HCC student, and poet/activist, Justice “DOAP” Butler, uses her words and deeds to speak for people she encountered during her journeys from coast to coast, along with her time being homeless. great and dropped out.

“I didn’t even realize I was going “There was a part in the bible where in the area. “I remember giving to the through major depression. My friends raised me all my life and I thought she would say, ‘You have a great smile!’ and I was going to be there to watch not only everybody had a purpose, and I used to be homeless when I was working and I was would ask them, ‘Have you ever heard that my graduation but also watch me become so sad and would say ‘What does God have struggling, so, I would make origami birds for me?’ Through homelessness I realized to give out to them [motorist]. They are all song, tears of a clown?’ I’m smiling on the successful.” going through something as well, we’re all The memories of her grandmother ran God placed me here to be a messenger.” outside but inside I’m so down.’

It was through learning her own purpose struggling “ Although she felt down on the inside, on far deeper than Houston; her grandmother Justice documented her entire the outside things were looking up. She had had been Selma Wells, the first African that she found a way to truly cope with returned to college this time, at University American and first female appointed to the her grandmother’s loss. It wouldn’t be by struggle throughout homelessness on her of Houston Downtown, and started Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles and trying to forget, but, by doing everything Instagram page where followers got to she could to make sure her grandmothers experience her journey. working in the profession she loved “I her legacy in Texas history ran deep.

“I remember posting, ‘I slept with the “I went to LA and became Justice. I memory would live forever through her spent so much time at KTSU that I learned angels last night’ and people thought it was how to work the boards and eventually was didn’t want to keep my grandmother’s own actions.

“I said to myself, ‘She is here, she’s just something poetic, in fact I actually slept given an hour to play music. Within a short name because I felt I would be living in her period of time that hour slot increased to shadows and every time I was called Selma not here in the flesh but she is here. I feel outside and the angels protected me. I her spirit all the time, so what else can I do slept at bus stops and slept on a park bench Monday, Wednesday and Friday and when I was reminded of her.”

While in LA she continued to find to make things good?’ Well, she instilled a jumping up every few minutes because I they offered me a receptionist position I success in radio and as a comedy promoter lot of great things in me and these things was afraid of being attacked.” took it.”

She began to build bonds among the However, when Justice found out she which helped to keep her relatively sane, were hereditary, they were a part of her. would have to be a college senior in order but her mental and emotional scars began She is where I get my extra giving heart homeless community and vowed that from—so I’m going to keep her memory no matter how long or short her tenure to work the boards as a student at U of H, to creep back in.

“I wasn’t ok I was suicidal, I wanted to alive by the great things she instilled in me, through homelessness would be, she she chose to leave the University refusing would come back for them. to go to school for a skill she had learned kill myself. I didn’t have the heart to inflict keeping those alive by embodying that.”

“I made a promise when I was out there After initially being against a suggestion hands on in a field she was already working the pain of a bullet or poisoning instead I starved myself. I took muscle relaxers by a fellow homeless man to hold a sign in holding that sign. Those people out there in.

Her show began to take off, immediately mixed with wine coolers and went out order to get spare change, she embraced became like my family.”

A few chance encounters with old gaining popularity for its unique drops driving one evening and side swiped 3 the idea as a way to send messages that which helped her to conceal her true cars came home and parked my car in the would personalize her struggle for the friends would set her on her path to once again return to college and secure housing. identity while on the air, “I was really shy garage. I probably shouldn’t have made it passing motorists.

“One of my old friends ran into me “I wanted to do something different and never wanted the attention that people but God wasn’t ready for me.”

She would eventually find herself in I didn’t want to just hold a sign that said holding my sign and after telling her would give on-air personalities so I created the Flight captain. When the show would Miami helping as a supervisor with the help me I’m homeless, I figured if I’m what had been going on with me, she come on it’d say, ‘The flight captain is Hurricane Katrina relief efforts before standing out here you know I’m homeless. encouraged me to enroll at HCC. I credit ready please board at gate 909’ and then returning to Houston. Her steady income My signs would say, ‘Just a smile can make that with saving me from a dark place.”

With the encouragement of her friend you’d hear the plane taking off. At the end and system of supporters through her my day’, ‘Never thought I would be this of the show it would say ‘Your flight has position at Verizon Wireless along with low, anything helps’ or ‘Need an Earth she applied for her FAFSA, was awarded her faith would help her readjust mentally. Angel.’ That way when people would read financial aid and officially enrolled at HCC. ended thanks for flying the urban waves.”

“I had friends but I didn’t let them know She had all but given up on God after it they’d be like wow, she used to be in my Despite her success she continued to feel alone, and consumed with the memory her grandmother’s death, even beginning position. Sometimes at a stop light they’d what was going on with me. In fact, I had to practice Buddhism during her time in want to know my story and I’d share a little one friend who stayed down the street of the loss of her number one supporter. from where I had been holding my sign “I felt like I was just walking this earth, Los Angeles. But through her experience bit.”

Her creative signs made her familiar like a zombie, and I just had to get away with homelessness it would be God that from Houston because the memories were she would give the credit for getting her with the passing motorist, members of the see Poetic Justice, Page 5 local community as well as police officers so heavy. This is where my grandmother through.

Wednesday April 5, 2017

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5

Texas deputy constable fatally shot after arriving for work Associated Press BAYTOWN, Texas — A highly regarded Texas law enforcement officer was shot and killed Monday moments after arriving for work in an attack that prompted a massive manhunt for the gunman.

The shooting of Harris County Precinct 3 Assistant Chief Deputy Clinton Greenwood did not appear to be random, according to Baytown police Lt. Steve Dorris, but a motive was not immediately clear.

“Whether or not he was specifically targeted, or whether this was because of the uniform he was wearing or the place he pulled up to in the morning, we just don’t know that right now,” Dorris said.

No arrests had been made as of Monday evening. Dorris said authorities were still “actively investigating” the shooting.

Investigators said late Monday they were looking for a suspect described as a white or Hispanic male, approximately 6 feet (1.8 meters) to 6-feet-3 inches tall, with short hair and a medium to stocky build. The man was described as possibly wearing a dark jacket with some type of patch on the sleeve and was seen in the area around the time of the shooting. Baytown police said the suspect might have fled the scene

in a dark vehicle.

Greenwood, a 30-year law enforcement veteran, was shot outside a county courthouse building in Baytown, east of Houston. He suffered a single gunshot wound and was airlifted to a Houston hospital where he died.

The attack led to the lockdown of a nearby high school and a broad response by law enforcement as authorities closed intersections as part of their search for the suspect. Access to businesses in the area was limited as law enforcement helicopters searched by air and officers spread into nearby neighborhoods.

Montgomery County sheriff’s Lt. Tim Cannon told the Houston Chronicle that he had known Greenwood for decades and was struggling to understand who would harm him.

“Clint was absolutely a target, for whatever reason. We don’t know,” he said. “But he didn’t need to be a target. Clint was there to help. And whoever this person was, Clint probably would have reached out to help him as well.”

A reward of up to $65,000 has been offered for information that would lead authorities to arrest and charge someone in the case.

Greenwood received his law license in the 1980s and worked for the Harris County district attorney’s office. At one point, he

Godofredo A. Vasquez/AP Photo Authorities investigate the scene where Harris County Precinct 3 Assistant Chief Deputy Clinton Greenwood was fatally shot outside the Baytown courthouse, Monday, April 3, 2017, in Baytown, Texas. oversaw the office’s civil rights division. He also once served as part of the command staff for the Harris County sheriff’s office, one of the busiest in the country.

“My heart goes out to the family and friends of Assistant Chief Deputy Greenwood and the Harris County law enforcement community in the wake of this heinous murder,” Gov. Greg

Image courtesy of Eduardo Perme Justice Butler went from homeless to hopeful after enrolling in HCC.

Poetic Justice, From Page 4 and I knew it would only be a matter of time before she saw me and one day she did. She offered to allow me to move in with her but I refused until I felt like I would be able to pay her rent.”

Justice continued to hold her signs until she was able to save up $600 to pay her friend rent and then she moved in.

“I had always told them while we were out there homeless, ‘I’m going to back to school and then I’m coming back to get y’all.’ It was an urgency, so as soon as I got into school, I wanted to start doing things.”

Even after she found stable housing she would still go out with her sign, this time, as a show of appreciation to the motorist

who had found it in their hearts to stop to chat, honk in support, or spare what they could monetarily.

“On Christmas day I went out with a sign that said: ‘Because of you I’m not homeless. “A” student, thank you for believing, bless you.’ I wanted to let people know, this is what your money did to help me, these are the results” One day while she was holding one of her thank you signs she was approached by a motorist with a story that would open her eyes to the true impact she had been making on others.

“Before she turned she gave me $20. I said, ‘No ma’am I’m here just to thank you guys.’ She said, ‘No you changed my son’s life!’

Abbott said in a statement. “Texas is taking action to strengthen penalties for those brazen enough to commit crimes against law enforcement, and we will send a message that such vile acts will not be tolerated.”

The shooting of Greenwood was reminiscent of the 2013 slaying of a prosecutor as he exited his car and walked

The woman’s son had followed Doap on social media and interviewed her for a school assignment. “She said, ‘You just don’t know who you inspire and touch.’

That was really touching to me, I almost cried.” Recalls Butler.

Justice’s dream is to continue to spread her message of positive promotions and serving through her own musical genre called Music Poetry, which incorporates, poetry with a mix of other genres—for now her music is categorized as either world or alternative— her social media platforms which boasts over 42,000 followers on Twitter alone and through the non-profit she is working to start which will support and employ the homeless.

“I feel like the homeless would know the struggle better than anyone else. I feel they will be more passionate and willing to make change happen.”

She also hopes to start a bicycle shop that will also employ the homeless.

She even sees herself running for council one day. After shedding light on a broken water line – that had been a neighborhood nuisance for over one year—through social media, she was able to get the problem resolved within a matter of days. “That was my prized moment to let me know that I could make a difference. I feel like I can call myself an activist” Her high ambitions and eagerness to give back have not caused her to forget her struggles, instead she has chosen to keep them as experiences from which she has been able to learn and grow.

“What God wanted me to learn was how to say, let me do this and then I’ll take care of you. let me do this first, take care of me and my best friend in the mirror and then, I got y’all. Now I’m still good and I can afford to help y’all too.”

For now, her goals are much more

into work southeast of Dallas.

Authorities say the gunman who killed Mark Hasse outside the Kaufman County courthouse later fatally shot the county’s district attorney and his wife. The deaths were retribution after Hasse and District Attorney Mike McLelland prosecuted gunman Eric Williams for the theft of county equipment, authorities have said.

modest. Her most recent initiative has been to start the Nerd Gang movement. “It stands for Natural Educated Real Diplomatic.

Those are all words to stand by.”

The Communications major who has always considered herself a Nerd in the traditional sense has started a movement that redefines the word. “To be Natural, that’s who you really are, Educated, is yearning for knowledge, being Real with people and real with yourself and being Diplomatic using your mind more and fighting in a diplomatic way.”

The leader of the Nerd Gang says that school remains her primary focus, “Right now my goal is to make straight A’s this term.”

Justice credits her struggles with increasing her worth as an individual.

“Through those experiences it’s learning and I can say I’ve learned that it makes you a better person and it makes you better to serve.”

Justice believes that her visual diary on social media is not just a testament to her struggles as well as success but also serves as a form of empowerment to her followers.

“I said, ‘I’m going to be involved in everything because I’m on a mission.’ I made a promise to be something because I’m representing my people out there who are homeless. I’m representing regular people and I’m showing y’all my blueprint.

There is no way you can say you can’t do it because you’re looking daily at what I’m doing. I don’t want to tell you what I’m doing I want you to be a part of it. You are all on this journey with me.”

To follow Justice’s journey, make sure to follow her on Instagram @doap22, Twitter @diaryofapoet and Facebook: DoapAddict

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Wednesday April 5, 2017

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Around

Top Left: Opening Day ceremonies at Minute Maid Park.

Top Right: Dallas Keuchel throwing the first pitch of the 2017 season.

Left: Russell Henley winning the Shell Houston Open.

Right: Fried food heaven at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo midway.

Bottom: It’s dinner time at Mom’s place.

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Houston

Top Left: Astronaut Shane Kimbrough supporting the Astros.

Top Right: Astros’ mascot Orbit welcoming the new season at MMP Left: A view of the Texas sky and the ferris wheel at the HLSR midway.

Right: Eric Torres of the Houston Dynamo celebrating his hat-trick against the Red Bulls at BBVA Compass Stadium.

Below: Just swinging around at the HLSR midway.

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Wednesday April 5, 2017

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Sports

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Tar Heels take title over Bulldogs Eddie Pells

Associated Press GLENDALE, Ariz. — It’s OK, Carolina, you can open your eyes.

An unwatchable game turned into a beautiful night for the Tar Heels, who turned a free-throw contest into a championship they’ve been waiting an entire year to celebrate.

Justin Jackson delivered the go-ahead 3-point play with 1:40 left Monday and North Carolina pulled away for a 71-65 win over Gonzaga that washed away a year’s worth of heartache.

It was, in North Carolina’s words, a redemption tour — filled with extra time on the practice court and the weight room, all fueled by a devastating loss in last year’s title game on Kris Jenkins’ 3-point dagger at the buzzer for Villanova.

“Just unreal that we get a second chance at this,” junior Theo Pinson said, recounting a pre-game conversation with teammate Joel Berry II. “Not a lot of people can say they can do that. I told him, ‘We’re about to take this thing. I’m about to give everything I got.’ I knew he would, too, We just didn’t want to come up short again.”

But to say everything went right for Roy Williams’ team at this Final Four would be less than the truth.

The Tar Heels (33-7) followed a terrible-shooting night in the semifinal with an equally icecold performance in the final — going 4 for 27 from 3-point land and 26 for 73 overall.

Gonzaga, helped by 8 straight points from Nigel WilliamsGoss, took a 2-point lead with 1:52 left, but the next possession was the game-changer.

Jackson took a zinger of a pass under the basket from Pinson and converted the shot, then the ensuing free throw to take the lead for good. Moments later, Williams-Goss twisted an ankle and could not elevate for

Matt York/AP Photo North Carolina players celebrate with the trophy after the championship game against Gonzaga at the Final Four NCAA college basketball tournament, Monday, April 3, 2017, in Glendale, Ariz. North Carolina 71-65. a jumper that would’ve given the Bulldogs the lead.

Isaiah Hicks made a basket to push the lead to 3, then Kennedy Meeks, in foul trouble all night (who wasn’t?), blocked Williams-Goss’ shot and Jackson got a slam on the other end to put some icing on title No. 6 for the Tar Heels.

Williams got his third championship, putting him one ahead of his mentor, Dean Smith, and now behind only John Wooden, Mike Krzyzewski and Adolph Rupp.

“I think of Coach Smith, there’s no question,” Williams said. “I don’t think I should be mentioned in the same sentence with him. But we got three because I’ve got these guys with me and that’s all I care about right now — my guys.”

Berry recovered from ankle injuries to lead the Tar Heels, but needed 19 shots for his 22 points. Jackson had 16 but went 0 for 9 from 3. Overall,

the Tar Heels actually shot a percentage point worse than they did in Saturday night’s win over Oregon.

Thank goodness for free throws.

They went 15 for 26 from the line and, in many corners, this game will be remembered for these three men: Michael Stephens, Verne Harris and Mike Eades, the referees who called 27 fouls in the second half, completely busted up the flow of the game and sent Meeks, Gonzaga’s 7-footers Przemek Karnowski and Zach Collins, and a host of others to the bench in foul trouble.

The game “featured” 52 free throws. Both teams were in the bonus with 13 minutes left.

Somehow, Collins was the only player to foul out.

Most bizarre sequence: With 8:02 left, Berry got called for a foul for (maybe) making contact with Karnowski and stripping the ball from the big

man’s hands. But as Karnowski was flailing after the ball, he inadvertently grabbed Berry around the neck. After a long delay, the refs called Karnowski for a flagrant foul of his own.

“I’m not going to talk about refs,” Karnowski said. “It was just a physical game.”

Zags coach Mark Few handled it with class, calling the refs “three of the best officials in the entire country,” and insisting they did a fine job.

He might have wanted further review on the scrum with 50 seconds left. The refs were taking heat on social media for calling a held ball, which gave possession to the Tar Heels, on a pile-up underneath the Carolina basket. It set up the Hicks layup to put Carolina ahead by 3. One problem: Meeks’ right hand looks to be very much touching out of bounds while he’s trying to rip away the ball.

“That was probably on me,”

Few said. “From my angle, it didn’t look like an out of bounds situation or I would have called a review. That’s tough to hear.”

The Bulldogs (37-2), the Cinderella-turned-Godzilla team from the small school in the West Coast Conference, tried to keep the big picture in mind. Twenty years ago, this sort of run at that sort of place looked virtually impossible.

With less than 2 minutes left, they had the lead in the national title game.

“We broke the glass ceiling everyone said we couldn’t break,” junior forward Johnathan Williams said.

And North Carolina got over a hump that, at times this season, felt like a mountain.

“They wanted redemption,” Williams said. “I put it on the locker room up on the board — one of the things we had to be tonight was tough enough.

I think this group was tough enough tonight.”

Eric Torres scores hat-trick in Dynamo win John Cañamar

Jcanamar@hccegalitarian.com The Houston Dynamo score four unanswered goals after going down 1-0 at the 13th-minute mark to remain undefeated at home.

Going into Saturday’s match against the Red Bull’s, fans of the Dynamo were down after losing their last game against the Timbers and having loss Romell Quioto to injury on an off week.

New York scored first of the foot of Bradley Wright-Phillips on a pass from Sacha Kljestan that found the back of the net.

The mood was somber for less than 60 seconds in BBVA Compass Stadium thanks to a pass from Alex to Dylan

Remick who scored his first goal for the orange in header fashion as he slashed through the defenses sending the ball past Luis Robles hands of the Red Bulls in the top right corner.

Torres scores a hat trick while Dynamo remain undefeated at home.

Cubo Torres would score in his fourth straight game on a penalty kick in the 41stminute giving the Dynamo the 2-1 lead.

Torres was just starting his night; he would not score once more but twice giving him a hat trick for the game.

Torres would make his second goal in the 56th-minute after Robles had stopped a flurry of attempts from Houston in a three-minute span.

In stoppage time Torres would complete his assault on the net with a

Eric Christian Smith/AP Photo Houston Dynamo, Eric Torres, flying high with a hat-trick in game against NY Red Bulls. kick from outside the 18-yard box on a free-kick. Torres kick the ball over the seven-man wall bending it to the left with enough power and english that Robles was not able to keep it from going into the arch even after he put his hand on it.

Dynamo took 17 shots on goal while

having the ball only 32 percent of the game.

Red Bulls had 11 shots on goal.

Red Bulls will travel to Orlando to play on April 9th.

The Dynamo will face the New England Revolution on the road on April 8th.

9 Henley rallies to win Shell Houston Open Wednesday April 5, 2017

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Associated Press HUMBLE, Texas — Russell Henley no longer gets to take a week off, and he couldn’t be happier.

He’s going to the Masters.

Henley overcame a four-shot deficit Sunday in the Houston by closing with a 7-under 65 for a three-shot victory, one of the most important final rounds of his career. Only later did he realize it might have his best.

He made 10 birdies. He never went more than two holes without a birdie.

“I made 10 birdies today?” he asked. “Oh, wow. Wow. Yeah, then I guess it’s definitely the best.”

Henley ran off five of them in the opening eight holes to briefly catch up to Sung Kang, only to make a double bogey from the bunker on the par-3 ninth at the Golf Club of Houston. Only the 27-year-old from Georgia was just getting warmed up.

The decisive stretch came on the par-5 13th, where Henley and Kang were tied for the lead. Henley pitched to 3 feet for birdie, while Kang missed from 15 feet. On the par-3 14th, Henley rolled in a 35-foot birdie putt on the fast greens, cut to try to mimic what players will face at Augusta National. Kang did well to save par from 6 feet. And then Henley raced out to a three-

shot advantage with another upand-down for birdie on the par-5 15th.

He finished with a bogey for 20-under 268, three shots ahead of Kang.

Rickie Fowler was never in the picture. He made a double bogey with a wild drive on the second hole, and then got hit driver off the deck into the water on the par-5 fourth hole to drop another shot. Fowler trailed by as many as seven shots until a flurry of birdies late in the round when it was out of reach.

Fowler closed with a 70 and tied for third, along with Luke List (68).

“Just an alignment problem that just caused me to make a couple bad swings, cost me a few shots,” Fowler said. “Nice that I got it turned around and started to make some good swings and made some birdies and fought back, got a good finish out of it.

Obviously, yeah, I would have like to have gotten off to a better start.”

Jon Rahm, the 22-year-old rookie from Spain, closed with a 67 and tied for 10th, his fourth consecutive top 10 as he heads to Augusta National for his Masters debut.

Henley won for the third time in his PGA Tour career, and his first since a playoff victory over Rory McIlroy in the 2014 Honda Classic. He was in danger of missing the Masters

for the second straight year until winning the Houston Open, the only way into Augusta National at this point.

“I wasn’t expecting to go back to Augusta,” he said. “I was planning on not going, but I was going to try my best to win. So, the fact I get to go back is pretty cool and I’m excited. It hasn’t really sunk in yet.”

Henley became the third player in the last four years to win the Houston Open and earn a trip to the Masters.

Kang, going for his first PGA Tour victory, had a six-shot lead after 36 holes, the largest in tournament history. He appeared to get a slight reprieve Saturday when Fowler fell back with a four-putt double bogey on the 18th hole of the third round.

The threat turned out to be Henley, one of the best putters in golf when he gets it going.

Kang did his best to hang on, but he never made another birdie after No. 8. His hopes were all but gone when he missed a 5-foot birdie attempt on No. 16.

“This week is going to be very memorable for me,” Kang said.

“I played really solid the first few rounds and then it shifted for two rounds. I’ll keep grinding out and working out and hopefully, I can get a chance next time.”

The starting times were moved up Sunday because of the threat of rain, and the final round featured dark, gray skies

Eric Christian Smith/AP Photo Russell Henley holds the trophy after winning the Houston Open golf tournament, Sunday, April 2, 2017, in Humble, Texas. Henley won the tournament by three shots over Sung Kang. and a drizzle, followed by steamy sunshine as the leaders entered the final stretch.

This was the Houston Open with Shell as the title sponsor after 26 years.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner was at the tournament on Sunday and advocated for moving the Houston Open inside the city limits rather

Keuchel leads Astros to opening day victory John Cañamar

Jcanamar@hccegalitarian.com Dallas Keuchel leads the Houston Astros in game one of the season to their fifth straight opening day victory with a stellar pitching performance.

After not having the best season in 2016 going 9-12 with a 4.55 ERA, Keuchel the 2015 Cy Young Award winner won his third year in a row giving up only two hits and two walks and collecting four strikeouts in seven innings.

Keuchel was shut down after Aug. 27 last season because of shoulder inflammation which had fans worried about which pitcher would take the mound for their beloved Astros.

“I know what I’m capable of doing when I’m healthy. I know how bad I can be when I’m not healthy,” Keuchel said. “I knew I was good coming in and I was just hoping to get the team off to a good start.”

Keuchel answered their concerns early in the game by retiring his first ten batters before Robinson Cano singled, Nelson Cruz walked and a two-out walk to Danny Valencia loaded the bases in the fourth, but Keuchel retired Leonys Martin on a groundout to get out of danger.

“I think he comes into this season with a little chip on his shoulder, and rightfully so,” A.J. Hinch said. “For him on opening day I think he wants to set a tone for the club. I think he wanted to show that every five days when he gets the ball. our team is going to rally behind him. It’s certainly nice to have that as opposed to me sitting

Eric Christian Smith/AP Photo Houston Astros starting pitcher Dallas Keuchel delivers in the second inning of a baseball game against the Seattle Mariners, Monday, April 3, 2017, in Houston. up here explaining a rough outing. And he responded in incredible fashion.”

Luke Gregerson and Ken Giles combined to complete the three-hitter for the Houston Astros in a 3-0 win over the Seattle Mariners Monday night.

Gregerson allowed a hit and Giles walked one with three strikeouts for the save.

George Springer became the first player for the Astros to hit a leadoff homerun in a season opener at Minute Maid Park and first since Terry Puhl in the Astrodome in 1980.

Carlos Correa homered and had a sacrifice fly to drive in two runs for the Astros giving the team a 3-0 victory over Felix Hernandez and the Seattle Mariners Hernandez made his 10th opening day start, allowed two runs and five hits while striking out six in five innings.

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Hernandez left with tightness in his groin after covering first base in the fourth inning.

“It just got a little tight,” he said. “I’ll be all right. I’m going to be OK.” Springer started the game by hitting his 10th ever leadoff homerun and his 66th of his career. Correa made it 2-0 in the fourth with a monster blast that went 449-feet over the train tracks in leftfield. In the sixth Correa sacrificed in Alex Bregman to make it 3-0.

“We chased some balls outside of the zone, but it’s opening day,” Scott Servais said. “Guys are fired up. They want to make an impact. They want to make a difference, and we got away from our game plan a little bit in that regard.”

Astros and Mariners have three more games in the opening series of the 2017 MLB campaign.

than unincorporated Harris County near Humble where the tournament has been played since 2003.

Neither the sponsor nor the location for next year’s Houston Open has been determined.

Turner advocated heavily for moving the tournament to Memorial Park, which last hosted the Houston Open in 1963.

Houston Astros first half of 2017 season schedule

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Culture

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‘The Disaster Artist – My life inside The Room’ Fabian Brims

FBrims@hccegalitarian.com When a small movie called ‘The Room’ hit two theaters in the Los Angeles area in 2003, no one knew what to do with the film or Tommy Wiseau, its mysterious director. Advertised as a drama, the movie seemed to ignore every fundamental rule of filmmaking, turning it into a hilarious reel of unrelated, chaotic and overacted scenes. ‘The Room’ gained a cult following over the years and is now on par with ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’ as one of the most popular midnight screenings across the country.

In 2013, Greg Sestero, the co-star of the movie, wrote a book detailing his experience on the set titled ‘The Disaster Artist – My life inside The Room’ in which James Franco has adapted into his newest film. Like Wiseau, Franco is the film’s director, producer and main actor. However, unlike ‘The Room’, ‘The Disaster Artist’ Franco’s adaptation is said to create enough buzz for this fall’s award season and the Oscars.

The talent involved had a great time filming this movie. Everyone seems to be a great enthusiast about ‘The Room,’ a fact revealed in the introduction where stars like Zach Braff, J.J. Abrams, Kristen Bell, Adam Scott and Danny McBride tell us why they are members of ‘The Room’ cult. The film then begins, in 1998 San Francisco where an inexperienced but ambitious actor Greg Sestero (Dave Franco) meets the enigmatic Tommy Wiseau (James Franco) at an acting class. Impressed by how blatantly ignorant Wiseau is about his acting abilities, Sestero befriends him, and eventually they move to Los Angeles to boost their non-existent careers. Since

Wiseau has a bottomless bank account— also one of the mysteries around the real counterpart—he and Sestero decide to make their own movie after continuously failing their auditions. Eventually, Wiseau’s decisions as producer and director become more erratic, straining the production’s completion and the duo’s relationship.

Entirely based on real events, James Franco captures a story on celluloid that couldn’t be more fantastic. Wiseau’s denial of reality is almost impressive to behold, and Franco plays the role with amazing precision. The mysterious accent (the real Wiseau claims to be from New Orleans), quirky gestures and a sleepy eye, Franco practically becomes Tommy Wiseau. As a method actor, he stayed in character throughout production: Franco, playing Wiseau, is directing a film about Wiseau trying to helm a film that he will also star in. You can’t get any more meta than ‘The Disaster Artist.’

But what sounds complicated is broken into digestible pieces by the film. ‘The Disaster Artist’ even works if viewers haven’t seen ‘The Room’ first; the filmmakers have meticulously replicated key scenes in the original film. Still, a session with ‘The Disaster Artist’ calls for a session with ‘The Room,’ so it was only logical that both films were played back-to-back at SXSW, only parted by an intermission, where the Franco brothers answered questions together with Seth Rogen who starred in it and is also one of the producers of the film.

‘The Disaster Artist’ also includes Zac Efron, Jacki Weaver, Hannibal Buress, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Alison Brie, along with cameos from Sharon Stone, Melanie Griffith, Bryan Cranston and the real Wiseau-Sestero pair. Franco makes

Jack Plunkett/AP Photo Dave Franco, James Franco and Seth Rogen at the premiere of “The Disaster Artist” at SXSW. it look so easy in making his cast channel the level of acting in ‘The Room.’ Only in the end of the film, when scenes from the original and ‘The Disaster Artist’ are juxtaposed side by side, do viewers get to see the degree of precision that Franco exhibits and demands from his cast. The film also receives some glorious finishing touches from the set designers, who have rebuilt the original’s green-screen sets, and the makeup and costume departments, which have recreated the original’s silly work and accurately turned Franco into the longhaired, self-proclaimed vampire Wiseau.

This movie is perfect—an unbelievableyet-true story about filmmaking and friendship, featuring the stars who are involved in the story and flawless filmmaking. Franco delivers a career-best performance on both sides of the camera.

It is the funniest movie that I’ve seen in

Creator of rainbow flag, Gilbert Baker dies at 65 Elliot Spagat Associated Press

NEW YORK — Gilbert Baker, the creator of the rainbow flag that has become a widely recognized symbol of gay rights has died. He was 65.

Baker was found dead Friday at his New York City home. The city medical examiner’s office said Saturday that he had died of hypertensive heart disease.

Baker was born in Kansas and served in the U.S. Army from 1970 to 1972.

He was stationed in San Francisco in the early days of the gay rights movement and continued to live there after his honorable discharge.

According to Baker’s website, he taught himself to sew and began making banners for gay and anti-war marches, creating the rainbow flag in 1978.

Baker said in a 2008 interview that he knew instantly from the way people reacted to the flag that it was “going to be something. I didn’t know what or how ... but I knew.”

Baker was part of a circle of San Francisco gay activists that included Harvey Milk,

the city supervisor who was assassinated in 1978, and Cleve Jones, who created the Names Project AIDS memorial quilt in the 1980s.

In an interview Saturday, Jones recalled the rainbow flag’s first appearance at the 1978 gay pride parade.

“It was quite amazing to stand there and watch all these thousands of people turn off Market Street into San Francisco Civic Center Plaza and march beneath these giant flags that were flapping in the wind,” Jones said. “People looked up and faces lit up and, without any explanation, this was now our flag.”

The flag was initially eight colors, but it was cut to six because of the limited availability of fabrics, Jones said. He said Baker rejected advice to patent the rainbow flag design and never made a penny off it.

Baker also designed flags for civic occasions including the inauguration of Dianne Feinstein, now California’s senior U.S. senator, as mayor of San Francisco.

Baker moved to New

quite a while, and I can only recommend you watching this as soon as it comes out.

The film was screened at SXSW as a work-in-progress screening, but as Seth Rogen remarked after standing ovations “I guess we’re done.” However, a starting date has not been set for this movie, but you should definitely keep an eye out—it’s worth it!

10/10 The Disaster Artist (2017) directed by James Franco written by Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber with James Franco, Dave Franco, Seth Rogen, Zac Efron, Allison Brie, Jackie Weaver, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Zoey Deutch, Hanniball Buress, Josh Hutcherson, Sharon Stone, Melanie Griffith, Brian Cranston cinematography by Brandon Trost 98 minutes, not yet rated

Uffizi Gallery shows treasures saved from last year’s quakes Colleen Barry Associated Press

Rob O’Neal/AP Photo Gilbert Baker stands under a 1 1/4-mile-long rainbow flag on Duval Street in Key West, Fla., the creator of the rainbow flag that has become a widely recognized symbol of gay rights has died at age 65.

York in 1994 and created a milelong rainbow flag for the gay pride parade, which that year commemorated the 25th anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall uprising.

Current San Francisco Mayor Edwin Lee said in a statement that the rainbow flag “has become a source of solace, comfort and pride for all those who look upon it.”

“Gilbert was a trailblazer for LGBT rights, a powerful artist and a true friend to all who knew him,” Lee said.

FLORENCE, Italy — The Uffizi Gallery in Florence is showing solidarity with Italy’s art-rich, quake-stricken Marche region by hosting an exhibit of treasures saved from a series of earthquakes last year.

Uffizi Gallery director Eike Schmidt told the Associated Press during a walk-through Friday that the 29 selected works were from churches, museums and other buildings either damaged or destroyed in powerful quakes last August and October.

“We didn’t take out anything from a functioning museum. Everything needed to be rescued anyhow, because there was a risk of destruction,” Schmidt said.

“Our ideal was really to show some great masterpieces together with two or three damaged works ... to show also a positive story and a negative story.”

The works on display are among some 6,300 pieces of art that the Italian Culture Ministry says have been saved from the central Italy quake zone.

They include a triptych featuring the Madonna and child from the San Vittorino church in Castelsantangelo sul Nera that was badly damaged in the quake and will be restored by experts in Florence.

Also on display is a gold and enameled reliquary set with precious stones that escaped unscathed, a papal gift to the then-Latin Catholic diocese of Montalto delle Marche in the 16th Century, and a painting depicting the future Pope Benedict XIII surviving an earthquake in 1688.

Schmidt said the exhibit, which runs through July 30, aims to help educate the public “about the treasures in the Marche, because often the Marche is known for its food and landscapes, but not for its artistic treasures,” which are spread throughout the region in small churches and museums.

During the exhibit, 1 euro ($1.06) from each ticket price will be donated to rebuilding in the Marche region, located northeast of Rome on the Adriatic coast in central Italy.

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Stock AP photo The Tennessee State Capitol, located in Nashville, Tennessee, is the home of the Tennessee legislature, the location of the governor’s office, and a National Historic Landmark.

Immigrant tuition break

gaining support in Tennessee Jonathan Mattise Associated Press

NASHVILLE — A push to offer in-state college tuition rates to students whose parents brought them into the country illegally is picking up unlikely momentum from some Republicans in Tennessee, a deeply conservative state that voted overwhelmingly for President Donald Trump and his tough stance on immigration.

If they succeed, Tennessee lawmakers would join the overwhelmingly left-leaning Washington, D.C., as the only other government to pass such an ordinance since Trump took office in January. Twenty other states already allow the in-state tuition.

To sell the idea, the bill’s supporters have had to maneuver carefully, steering the debate away from illegal immigration policy whenever possible.

Instead, they are promoting the measure as an economic driver and an educational opportunity for students who didn’t have a choice about crossing into the United States at a young age. They say the students are innocent victims of decades of political deadlock on immigration at the national level.

“I’m all for building the wall and U.S. sovereignty, closing our borders,” said Rep. Mark White, a Memphis Republican and a bill sponsor. “But we didn’t, and now we’re damaging innocent people.”

At the state Capitol, dozens of students whose parents crossed into the U.S. illegally and brought them along have gone lawmaker to lawmaker to share their personal stories. Republican Gov. Bill Haslam took time to meet and snap photos with them last month, and he has thrown his support behind the bill.

A House and Senate panel each have passed the proposal so far, and another House committee delayed a vote scheduled for Tuesday until

next week.

Two years ago, when President Barack Obama was still in office, the proposal passed in the Senate and came one vote shy of passing in the House. The Senate may wait for the House to act first this year, Republican Speaker Randy McNally said.

Trump has spoken of mass deportations and building a U.S.Mexico border wall. Nonetheless, White is optimistic the Tennessee bill has a chance.

“I’m just trying to protect Tennessee in the long run, because they’re here,” White said. “And if anybody thinks that we’re going to send children who grew up here back out of this country, they’re not living in the real world. We need to do what’s the next best thing, and that’s help them assimilate into our society.”

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, about 20 states offer in-state tuition to students who are either in the United States illegally or here under Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which protects them from deportation for two years and lets them work. A half-dozen or so of those states tilt Republican.

The Tennessee legislation would apply to students who have attended a state high school or home school program for two years.

Even if the bill passes, the students would not qualify for federal financial aid. Nor would they be eligible for state programs that offer students free tuition at community and technical colleges, said Ginger Hausser, director of external affairs for the Tennessee Board of Regents.

Sen. Todd Gardenhire, a Chattanooga Republican and the bill’s sponsor in the Senate, notes that the state has already invested in the students by paying for their K-12 education, and that some have

lived in Tennessee as long as their counterparts who are U.S. citizens.

Yet they are required to pay three times what other in-state students pay to attend college, he said.

The bill’s opponents are framing their arguments around illegal immigration. The same legislature continues to advance a bill that would cut funding to immigrantprotecting sanctuary cities.

“I don’t think anybody in this room blames (the students),” Rep. Dawn White, a Republican from Murfreesboro, said in a committee meeting. “But, as a representative, I owe the state taxpayers the right to say, ‘Why are we subsidizing illegal students?’”

Lisa Sherman-Nikolaus, Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition policy director, said she is optimistic about the bill’s chances amid support from the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, the Tennessee Farm Bureau, the governor, and the state Board of Regents, which governs colleges, among others.

“We think that this is a real opportunity to remind people, remind legislators, that even in such a divisive climate we can all come together and agree that educating Tennesseans is important,” Sherman-Nikolaus said.

Elman Gonzales, a 19-year-old who graduated from Sevierville County High School, said he could go back to East Tennessee State University if the bill becomes law. He had to drop out because tuition was $12,000 a semester, temporarily sidelining his hopes of becoming a doctor.

Gonzales, who was brought to Tennessee at 2 years old when his parents moved from Honduras, said he was “genuinely surprised” at the bill’s movement so far, “considering the political atmosphere.”

Telling lawmakers their stories one-on-one has made a big difference, Gonzales said.

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Wednesday April 5, 2017

The Egalitarian

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