The Westside Gazette

Page 1

PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID

FT. LAUDERDALE, FL 33310

PERMIT NO. 1179

PAGE 12

PAGE 3

VOL. 46 NO. 37 50¢

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 19 - WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2017

A M E S S A GE F ROM OU R PU BL IS H E R

(Left) The old St. John burned down in 1962. (Right) The current church building.

THE CHURCH HISTORY St. John started in the year 1904. The church was named Saint John Methodist Episcopal Church and was located on the east side of the “railroad track” and east of Andrew Avenue in Fort Lauderdale, Florida (Dade County). Two disasters, the 1926 hurricane and a church fire in 1962, destroyed all early

documents of the church. All streets in Fort Lauderdale had names, not numbers at that time, for example: Third Avenue was known as Nugent Avenue, Fourth Avenue was called Cunningham Avenue and Fifth Avenue was called Metcalf Avenue North. There are several gaps in the (Cont’d on page 5)

Out of the box kinda thinking and acting Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. Titus 2:14 (KJV) By Bobby R. Henry, Sr.

NAACP STATEMENT ON

BALTIMORE, MD—The NAACP, the nation’s foremost civil rights organization, is extremely dismayed by the results of a recent investigation into Florida’s Department of Juvenile Justice. In response to the Miami Herald series, “Fight Club,” detailing the violence, abuse and misconduct taking place in the country’s largest juvenile justice system, the NAACP released the following statement: “There is simply no overstating how horrific and sickening the conditions are for the youth subjected to the system. It is truly a tragedy that children, who more than anything need a loving and fostering environment to grow and develop, are instead forced to brutally assault each other in exchange for a snack,” said Derrick Johnson, interim President and CEO, NAACP. “The NAACP demands that Florida undertake a complete and full investigation that holds everyone from the top to the bottom accountable for their failure to ensure humane treatment of our children,” added Johnson. The report by the Miami Herald chronicled stories of forced fighting, sexual assault and wrongful deaths. Officers allegedly enforced a culture of denial and suppression. In total, the Herald examined 12 questionable deaths of detained youths since the year 2000. (Cont’d on page 5)

On October 16 in Tallahassee, the School Board of Broward County, Florida joined 12 other Florida school boards in filing a lawsuit challenging portions of House Bill (HB) 7069. Governor Rick Scott signed HB 7069 into law in June 2017. “Our School Board authorized us to bring this lawsuit forward to protect the school boards and the citizens’ constitutional right to local control of public education,” said Superintendent Robert W. Runcie. “We strongly believe there are several aspects of 7069 that disregard the mandate of the Florida Constitution in ways that would fundamentally alter and undermine public education. Although we are focused on the challenges of the moment, which means addressing the various deficiencies in 7069, our long-term perspective remains dedicated toward advocating for sufficient education funding that ensures the success of all children attending public schools – traditional and charter.” The School Board opposes the following named provisions under this new law:

• District school boards are mandated to share a portion of their discretionary capital outlay millage revenues with charter schools regardless of the need. • Corporate charter schools can take property taxes from local school boards to build and/or renovate schools they own and operate for-profit. If the charter school ceases to operate, the taxpayers do not recoup the buildings. • District school boards are forced to surrender their Constitutional authority to operate, control, and supervise the local public schools in their respective jurisdictions. • This provision allows a charter school to open without the locally elected district school board having authority to ensure that it is efficient, safe, and secure or of high quality for its students. • District school boards are improperly restricted in their federal authority over Title I funds. (Read full story at: www.thewestsidegazette.com)

Congresswoman Frederica S. Wilson and Congressman Alcee L. Hastings demand Investigation into death of Miami Gardens U.S. Army Sgt. La David Johnson WASHINGTON, D.C. – Florida Democrats, Congresswoman Frederica S. Wilson and Congressman Alcee L. Hastings, are demanding an investigation of the aftermath of a deadly ambush in Niger on October 4, that left dead Sgt. La David Johnson, 25, of Miami Gardens and three fellow

members of the 3rd Special Forces Group out of Fort Bragg and the elite United States Special Operations Command. According to news reports, Sgt. Johnson’s body was not recovered until nearly 48 hours after the evacuation of Staff Sergeants Bryan Black, Dustin Wright, and Jeremiah Johnson, and two other soldiers who had been wounded during the attack. They were in Niger to provide training and security assistance to Nigerian military forces combating

Boko Haram and other ISISaffiliated terrorists. The 12-man team was returning from a meeting with local leaders when it came under a surprise attack in which they were both outnumbered and outarmed by approximately 50 Al Qaeda-Islamic Maghreb fighters. Representatives Wilson and Hastings in a letter to Secretary James Mattis are calling on the Department of Defense to conduct a thorough and substantive (Cont’d on page 5)

The Westside Gazette Newspaper

@_WestsideGazett

How do you respond to adverse situations of others? Situations that; if not corrected, will devour an entire race of people who for no other reason, have different skin pigmentation. If you find yourself willing to act different, some may call it strange and yet others may say it’s downright foolish. In order to do what is spiritually right, you may have just joined a long lineage of peculiar acting saints. A saint is described as a particularly good or holy person or one who is exceptionally kind and patient in dealing with difficult people or situations. What foolish person hiding her identity as a Jew while living in the king’s palace would attempt to save her people, who were about to be put to death by a written decree from King Ahasuerus? NO ONE could ever come before the king unless they were summoned or the king held out his scepter recognizing them. Once Esther was informed of this declaration, she did something that should have cost her, her life. She went (Cont’d on page 11)

84°

Thursday Oct. 19TH

Partly Cloudy

Sunrise: 7:22am

Sgt. Johnson TheWestsideGazetteNewspaper

Sunset: 6:48pm

Fri

Sat

Sun

Mon

Tues

85° 79°

85° 79°

86° 79°

85° 78°

85° 75°

WESTSIDE GAZETTE IS A MEMBER: National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) Southeastern African-American Publishers Association (SAAPA) Florida Association of Black Owned Media (FABOM)


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.
The Westside Gazette by westside gazette - Issuu