Greene County Democrat

Category: Crime

  • The KKK’s official newspaper has endorsed Donald Trump

    By Peter Holley Washington Post,  November 01, 2016

    383374 02: A Klansman raises his left arm during a “white power” chant at a Ku Klux Klan rally December 16, 2000 in Skokie, IL. A Wisconsin chapter of the Ku Klux Klan held a “White Pride Rally” on the steps of the Cook County Courthouse located in Skokie, a suburb northwest of Chicago. (Photo by Tim Boyle/Newsmakers)

         Ku Klux Klan and  front page of KKK Crusader newspaper endorsing Trump

    WASHINGTON — Among the small number of American newspapers that have embraced Donald Trump’s campaign, there is one, in particular, that stands out.

    It’s called the The Crusader — and it’s the official newspaper of the Ku Klux Klan.

    Under the banner ‘‘Make America Great Again,’’ the paper’s current issue devoted its entire front page to a lengthy defense of Trump’s message — an embrace some have labeled a de facto endorsement.

    ‘‘While Trump wants to make America great again, we have to ask ourselves, ‘What made America great in the first place?’’’ the article continues. ‘‘The short answer to that is simple. America was great not because of what our forefathers did – but because of who our forefathers were.

    America was founded as a White Christian Republic. And as a White Christian Republic it became great.’’

    Reached by phone, Robb said that while the paper wasn’t officially endorsing Trump, the article signaled the publication’s enthusiastic support for his candidacy.

    ‘‘Overall, we do like his nationalist views and his words about shutting down the border to illegal aliens. It’s not an endorsement because, like anybody, there’s things you disagree with,’’ Robb said. ‘‘But he kind of reflects what’s happening throughout the world. There seems to be a surge of nationalism worldwide as nationals reclaim their borders.’’

    The 12-page-long, quarterly newspaper calls itself ‘‘The Political Voice of White Christian America!’’ and has a well-known white supremacist symbol on its front page. The latest edition includes articles about Jewish links to terrorism, black-on-white crime and a man who claims to be Bill Clinton’s illegitimate child. An article near the end of the paper writes that Trump’s candidacy is ‘‘moving the dialogue forward.’’

    The publication’s website states that its ‘‘number one goal’’ is to ‘‘stop white genocide.’’

    Trump campaign aligned with white supremacists

    Since the earliest days of his presidential bid, Donald Trump has attracted the support of prominent white nationalists across the country, setting off fears that a dormant fringe faction of the GOP base — one steeped in xenophobic and white supremacist rhetoric — would be folded back into mainstream politics.

    In the early months, white nationalists said they were reluctant to publicly throw their support behind the controversial billionaire for fear of harming his strengthening campaign. But the group said as Trump became more emboldened, they did too.

    In January, Jared Taylor, editor of the white supremacist magazine American Renaissance, lent his voice to a robo-call recording urging registered voters in Iowa to back Trump. Those potential voters, Taylor said, are part of a silent majority who are tired of being asked to celebrate diversity but are afraid of being labeled bigots.

    A month later, Trump was embraced by former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke, which led to a controversial exchange between CNN’s Jake Tapper and the Republican candidate. Asked by Tapper to ‘‘unequivocally condemn’’ Duke, Trump pleaded ignorance.

    ‘‘Just so you understand, I don’t know anything about David Duke, OK?’’ Trump said. Tapper pressed him several more times to disavow Duke and the KKK, but Trump again declined.

    ‘‘I don’t know anything about what you’re even talking about with white supremacy or white supremacists,’’ he said. ‘‘So I don’t know. I don’t know — did he endorse me, or what’s going on? Because I know nothing about David Duke; I know nothing about white supremacists.’’

    That same month, Rachel Pendergraft — the national organizer for the Knights Party, a standard-bearer for the Ku Klux Klan — said that Trump’s campaign offered the organization a new outreach tool for recruiting new members and expanding their formerly dwindling ranks.

    The Republican presidential candidate, Pendergraft said, provided separatists with an easy way to start a conversation about issues that are important to the dying white supremacist movement.

    ‘‘One of the things that our organization really stresses with our membership is we want them to educate themselves on issues, but we also want them to be able to learn how to open up a conversation with other people,’’ Pendergraft said.

    Using Trump as a conversation piece has been discussed on a private, members-only website and in ‘‘e-news, stuff that goes out to members.’’ In addition to opening ‘‘a door to conversation,’’ she said, Trump’s surging candidacy has electrified some members of the movement. ‘‘They like the overall momentum of his rallies and his campaign,’’ Pendergraft said. ‘‘They like that he’s not willing to back down. He says what he believes and he stands on that.’’

    In August, the American Nazy Party’s chairman Rocky Suhayda agreed, declaring on his radio show that Trump offers ‘‘real opportunity’’ to build the white nationalist movement.

    Recently – Trump’s rallies marred by racially charged incidents

    Last week, a black Trump supporter was booted from a North Carolina rally after he was mistaken for being a protester. Trump’s security detail escorted a man out of the rally as the audience cheered. ‘‘You can get him out,’’ Trump said, making a sideways motion with his thumb. ‘‘Get him out.’’

    The person in question turned out to be C.J. Cary, a North Carolina resident, who claims to be a longtime Trump supporter.

    Cary, in a phone interview Saturday, said he had gone to the rally because he wanted to hand-deliver a note to the Republican presidential nominee. He made his way to about 20 to 30 feet from the stage and was shouting ‘‘Donald!’’ while waving his note around to try to catch his attention.

    ‘‘Everyone else is waving Trump signs, and I’m waving this white letter,’’ Cary, 63, said. He said that, coupled with the fact that he was wearing sunglasses during an evening rally to deal with his sensitivity to light, may have been what set people off.

    Cary said a security official noticed he appeared to be a supporter but said he should not have disrupted the rally. ‘‘He asked me, ‘What happened? You have on a GOP badge,’ ‘‘ Cary said. ‘‘I said, ‘I’m yelling at Donald, and he thinks I’m a protester.’ ‘‘

    Days later, Donald Trump’s campaign manager Kellyanne Conway forcefully disavowed a supporter as ‘‘deplorable’’ for chanting ‘‘Jew-S-A!’’ at a weekend rally, the latest incident of anti-Semitic rhetoric used by some of the GOP nominee’s backers, according to two reporters.

    ‘‘[The man’s] conduct is completely unacceptable and does not reflect our campaign or our candidate. Wow,’’ Conway said during an interview on CNN’s ‘‘State of the Union.’’ ‘‘That man’s conduct was deplorable. And had I been there, I would have asked security to remove him immediately.’’

    The Saturday afternoon incident in Phoenix was captured on video that showed a man confronting reporters at the rally with shouts and a three-fingered hand gesture that resembled hate symbols flagged by the Anti-Defamation League.

    ‘‘You’re going down! You’re the enemy!’’ the man yelled. As the rest of the crowd broke into a chant of ‘‘USA! USA!,’’ the man repeatedly chanted, ‘‘Jew-S-A! Jew-S-A!’’

     

  • Barack Obama just cut the sentences of 98 drug offenders.

    Obama’s clemency total now stands at 872.

    president-barack-obama

    By; Ryan J. Reilly Senior Justice Reporter, The Huffington Post

    WASHINGTON ― President Barack Obama commuted the sentences of 98 federal prisoners on Thursday, meaning he has shortened the sentences of 872 individuals over the course of his presidency.

    The individuals granted clemency on Thursday were imprisoned for drug crimes. Dozens of them had been sentenced to life imprisonment, meaning they would have died behind bars without Obama’s intervention.

    The president reduced the sentences of 102 inmates earlier this month, which brought his total clemency number to 774. He had granted clemency to 214 federal prisoners in early August and another 111 inmates in late August, shortening the sentences of 325 people in a single month. With Thursday’s announcement, he has now commuted 200 sentences in the month of October.

    Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates said Thursday’s announcement was “part of our ongoing commitment to bring fairness” to the criminal justice system.

    “These grants reflect the Department’s accelerated progress in prioritizing and reviewing petitions that fit the President’s Clemency Initiative. As we’ve said before, the Department of Justice remains committed to reviewing and providing a recommendation on every petition submitted by August 31 of this year that involves a drug crime. And we will continue to prioritize the review any drug related petitions that have been submitted since that time,” Yates said.

    Jessica Jackson Sloan, national director of #cut50, a criminal justice reform initiative that seeks to reduce the incarcerated population in the U.S. by 50 percent over a decade, applauded Obama’s announcement but said it was “imperative” that he keep the promise he made to those “serving unjust and overly harsh sentences” for drug offenses.

    “While today’s announcement means some families will be made whole, many more petitioners were denied ― the vast majority denied with no explanation,” Sloan said. “The clemency process is sorely lacking in transparency ― with little regard for the emotional impact these decisions have on individuals and their families. For those who were neither denied, nor granted mercy, time is running out. Each passing day brings heightened desperation and anxiety. Some are beginning to lose hope as the clock continues to tick.”

    As The Huffington Post has reported, the Obama administration’s clemency initiative has fallen short of expectations:

                While the number of commutations granted during the Obama administration are historic, many advocates had hoped that thousands of individuals would be granted clemency under the initiative, which is aimed at shortening lengthy drug sentences that were often a result of federal mandatory minimums. Former Attorney General Eric Holder has said he expected as many as 10,000 prisoners to be granted clemency. Rachel Barkow, a New York University professor, told The Huffington Post that around 1,500 federal prisoners met the criteria that the Obama administration laid out for the initiative. 

  • Joe Lee Powell, Alphonzo Morton Jr, LaJeffrey Carpenter absent Mayor Edwards last City of Eutaw Council meeting not held due to lack of quorum

    The regular Eutaw City Council meeting scheduled for Tuesday, October 25, 2016, at 6:00 PM was not held due to a lack of a quorum. The Mayor and three council-members must be present to have an official meeting. This was to be Ms. Edwards last regular meeting before the newly elected city officials take office on November 7, 2016.
    “The three City Council members – Joe Lee Powell, Alphonzo Morton Jr. and LaJeffrey Carpenter – did not inform me that they were going to be absent. Ms. Shelia Smith was present and Reginald Spencer called and said he would be late.
    “ I feel those three council-members deliberately skipped the meeting to delay progress on the improvements to our water system. They knew the important business that was on the agenda for the meeting,” said Mayor Hattie Edwards.
    Mayor Edwards advised that she was planning to continue with firing the three police officers: Lonnie Glenn, Robert Clayton and Rodriquez Jones, who she deemed to be insubordinate and unwilling to abide by city policies. The police had a closed hearing with the City Council on October 18. Edwards said, “ I am moving ahead with these firings because it is my duty and responsibility to do so. If the next Mayor and Council wants to reinstate those police officers that is up to them. It is my responsibility to act when city employees do not abide by our policies and treat the Mayor disrespectfully.”
    When reached by the Democrat, Alphonzo Morton Jr. said, “I did not go to the City Council meeting because I support the police and I did not want to go.” Councilman Joe Lee Powell said, “ I had another obligation and could not attend.” When asked if he had informed the Mayor of his absence, he said that he had not but he was familiar with other times that other members of the Council had been absent without reporting to the Mayor.Efforts to reach LaJeffrey Carpenter were unsuccessful.
    Mayor Hattie Edwards said that the $3.1 million loan and grant with USDA Rural Development was being held up because the City Council had not agreed and accepted an offer of interim financing from Co-Bank, which was willing to provide these funds, at a favorable interest rate.
    “I have done everything to put this project in place and I am sad to see that things will be delayed because we were unable to have a quorum for our meeting. I have asked Councilwomen Smith to poll the Council to see if they are willing to hold a special meeting to approve this interim financing agreement before our terms have ended,” said Edwards.
    Mayor Edwards also provided the Democrat with a copy of a procedures report from Principal & Associates CPA firm on the financial status of the City of Eutaw, as of September 30, 2016. The report shows the bank balances in 19 bank accounts maintained by the City of Eutaw showing $895,861.68 as of that date.
    The CPA report indicates that the City of Eutaw has paid all outstanding bonds and warrants. The City has no outstanding long-term debt as of September 30, 2016. There is one major outstanding bill of $15,667 owed to Waste Management for garbage collection at the end of the fiscal year, which the report calls a normal obligation.
    Employee tax returns to IRS were reviewed and found to be over paid. The City has requested a refund from IRS.
    The billing for the City Water Department is three months behind (August-October 2016) with an estimate of $147,176 in uncollected revenues. The CPA firm recommends hiring additional staff to read the water meters because those readings are needed to process up-to-date billings for water and other city services.

  • Donald Trump still sure he’s ‘the least racist person you’ve ever met’

     

    Elise Foley Immigration & Politics Reporter, The Huffington Post

     

    dump-trump

    Demonstrators with a ‘Dump Trump’ sign

    GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump ― the man who accused America’s first Black president of lying about his birthplace and called for banning Muslims from the country ― insisted Thursday that not only is he not a racist, but he’s actually “the least racist person you’ve ever met.”

    Trump made the comment just before a rally in the swing state of Ohio. “Nineteen days out from the election, you’ve been labeled a racist, you’ve been called a sexist, how …” reporter Colleen Marshall, of Columbus’ WCMH-TV, began to ask.

    At that point, Trump turned and started to walk away, saying, “Thank you very much.” But he stopped a moment later when she asked how he responded to those criticisms. “I am the least racist person you’ve ever met,” Trump said.

    Trump abruptly ended a second interview with local media on Thursday when asked about the allegations of sexual assault against him. “I know nothing about that,” he told Columbus’ 10TV and again walked away from the reporter.

    It’s impossible to really know what goes on in another person’s mind, but Trump has publicly demonstrated plenty of racist thinking ― enough to attract white nationalists, many of whom support his campaign.

    He launched his bid for president by saying Mexico was sending rapists and criminals across the border.

    He has stuck by his assertion that the Central Park Five, a group of four black men and one Latino man, were guilty of a notoriously violent rape in 1989, even though they’ve long since been exonerated. His pitch to black voters implies that all African-Americans live in abject poverty in “inner cities” riddled with crime. He supports stop-and-frisk policing despite its known problems with racial targeting.

    He called for a ban on Muslims entering the U.S., only to amend it to a ban on people from certain countries, which still seemed to cover the Middle East. And the list goes on.

    The charges of sexism also go on. Accusations of sexual assault specifically have multiplied in recent weeks after The Washington Post published a 2005 recording of Trump bragging about kissing and groping women without their consent. More than a dozen women have come forward since and said he assaulted them. He has denied those allegations.

    Trump has also made a habit of judging women by their attractiveness. Among many, many examples, he has mocked his accusers for their looks, insulted Republican primary opponent Carly Fiorina’s appearance, and allegedly sought to have female workers fired if they weren’t, in his view, pretty enough.

    At Wednesday’s presidential debate, Trump called Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton a “nasty woman.” Yet even then, he denied that he harbored any sexism. “Nobody has more respect for women than I do,” Trump said. “Nobody.” The audience in the room laughed.

  • Emmett Till sign In Mississippi vandalized by dozens of bullets

    By: Zeba BlayVoices Culture Writer, The Huffington Post

     

    emmett-till-sign

    Emmett Till sign with bullet holes

        A memorial sign dedicated to commemorating the murder of Emmett Till has been vandalized in Money, Mississippi. The sign, marking the spot where Till’s body was discovered in August 1955, had been riddled with at least 50 bullet holes.

    At only 14, Till fell victim to racist violence when he was kidnapped, tortured and killed by an angry white mob for apparently whistling at a white woman. The disfigured body of the Chicago-born teen was found three days later floating in the Tallahatchie River.

    J.W. Milam and Roy Bryant, the two white men charged with killing Till in 1955, were acquitted of the crime, though they later bragged about kidnapping and murdering the teen. Till’s death and the lack of justice against his murderers became a catalyst for the civil rights movement throughout the United States in the ‘50s and ‘60s.

    In 2007, eight signs marking key locations in the last days of Till’s life were erected by the Emmett Till Memorial Commission. By 2013, as revealed in a 2013 tweet by writer Christopher Hooks, the sign marking the location Till’s body was found had been shot at dozens of times.  More recently, on Oct. 15, a North Carolina man named Kevin Wilson Jr. posted an updated photo of the memorial sign, now riddled with at least 50 bullet holes, on Facebook.

    There doesn’t seem to be any leads on the identities of the vandals, though efforts are already being made to fix the sign. According to the New York Daily News, the Emmett Till Interpretive Center is attempting to raise $15,000 to replace the damaged sign. Until then, it stands as a reminder that the racism that killed Till still lives on today.

    It was not the first time that this particular sign has been vandalized since it was erected in 2007. The Emmett Till Memorial Commission put up eight site markers at important locations, including near the Mississippi river where Emmett’s body was found after he was kidnapped, tortured and killed for allegedly whistling at a white woman while visiting relatives down South.

    As the Daily News notes, officials have said that replacing and restoring the sign every time someone damages it or steals it goes beyond their financial capabilities. However, after news spread across social media, donations came pouring in, raising the amount to go toward replacing the sign to a whopping $19,200 as of 3 p.m. EDT on Monday. More than 400 people have contributed to the effort so far. In Greene County, Alabama, signs naming Highway 14 as “Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Drive have attracted similar bullet hole attacks by vandals.

  • Black women will elect the next President

    By Freddie Allen (NNPA Newswire Managing Editor)

     

    ben-chavis-and-denise-rolark-barnesBen Chavis, CEO of National Newspaper Publishers with Denise Rolark-Barnes, NNPA Board Chair

      Black women will play a key role in electing the next president, according to a recent report by the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO). The AFL-CIO is a national trade group and the largest federation of unions in the United States.

    Carmen Berkley, the director of civil, human and women’s rights policy at the AFL-CIO said that the labor group wanted to provide context to the power that Black women voters have displayed over the past two presidential election cycles. In the briefing paper, researchers provided a case for why labor unions and non-profit organizations should be paying attention to Black women. “Without Black women, President Obama would not have won the White House in 2012,” said Berkley. “Black women voters delivered in key battleground states like Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida where President Obama picked up 67 additional electoral votes.”

    Berkley continued: “If Black women had not turned out, President Obama would have been five electoral votes shy of winning the presidency.”

    Denise Rolark Barnes, the publisher of The Washington Informer and chairwoman of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) said that Black women voters could make a monumental difference in the outcome of the 2016 election, just like they did in 2012.

    But Rolark Barnes also expressed concerns that neither of the presidential candidates have touched on the issues that are important to Black women and single parents, who are also the primary breadwinners in their families; issues like health care, education and the environment are very important to Black women and their families.“I don’t think we’ve heard enough from the candidates about how they plan to address issues that affect Black and Latino families,” Rolark Barnes said.

    Recently, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Rodham Clinton spoke at a campaign rally in Durham, N.C., flanked by “Mothers of the Movement,” a group of Black women who have lost children to gun violence or during interactions with law enforcement. The group included Gwen Carr, the mother of Eric Garner, Sybrina Fulton, the mother of Trayvon Martin, Lucia McBath, the mother of Jordan Davis and Geneva Reed-Veal, the mother of Sandra Bland.

    Clinton also delivered remarks at the Black Women’s Agenda conference in September, where she acknowledged that even though the contributions of Black women are “often missing from the history books — make no mistake — you are the change makers, the path breakers, and the ground shakers. And, you are proof that yes, indeed, Black girl magic is real.”

    Berkley said that Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has said that he knows the Black community, but he hasn’t proven that he understands the impact that Black people, especially Black women, have on society.

    “Black women drive turnout for the Black community,” said Berkley. “We care a lot about police reform, raising the minimum wage, protecting social security and we are economically liberal when it come to the government.” Berkley also noted that Black women have been very reliable voters in the past two election cycles. In 2012 and 2014 Black women voted at higher rates than other women.

    According to the briefing paper on the importance of Black women voters in 2016, “In 2012, 83 percent of registered Black women turned out, compared to 73 percent for all other women, a ten-point difference. Black women turned out at a higher rate than other women in 2014 as well. Fifty-five percent of registered Black women turned out in 2014, compared to 53 percent for all other women.”

    Berkley said that Black women do more than vote. “We’re very active in our churches, we’re very active in our communities and we’re very active in our unions,” she said.

    According to a survey by Lake Research Partners (LRP), a leading public opinion and political strategy research firm, Black workers are far more likely to view labor unions favorably (77 percent for Blacks vs. 50 for all-respondents) compared to other workers.

    Petee Talley, the secretary-treasurer of Ohio branch of the AFL-CIO, said that evidence shows that Black women union members have stepped up in remarkable ways. “Not only are they organizing inside of their unions, they are organizing the Black community around vote registration efforts,” said Talley.    And when Black women take on leadership roles, they have the power to significantly affect elections inside their unions.

    The briefing paper said: “As labor scholars Kate Bronfenbrenner and Dorian Warren found in their oft-cited study “Race, Gender, and the Rebirth of Trade Unionism,” unions won 89 percent of elections where Black women were the lead organizers compared with 53 percent for female organizers overall and 42 percent for male organizers.”

    The report noted that Black women were more likely than any other group to skip at least on race on the ballot. “By skipping down ballot races, Black women lose the potential to be a political force in local races, which arguably have a more direct impact on the day-to-day lives of Black people,” the report said.  The briefing paper said that as the labor movement grows, it should look to Black communities and Black women organizers as a potential base for power.  “This requires incorporating Black communities into long-term strategic thinking and lifting up the most progressive voice of the Democratic base,” the briefing paper said. “For organized labor and other parts of the political left, Black women are a smart investment, in 2016 and beyond.”

    Rolark Barnes said that Black women hold the power of the vote and also have the influence in their households to make sure their families and friends get out to vote.

    Rolark Barnes continued: “We need to come out strong, like we did before, and make the difference we know we can make in November.”

     

     

  • Gov. Bentley to name Alabama Advisory Council on Gaming to set the course for lottery, electronic bingo in state

    greenetrackOn October 3, 2016, Alabama Governor Robert Bentley issued Executive Order 24 creating the Alabama Advisory Council on Gaming.
    This group is tasked with “assessing the current state and local laws on gambling, as well as the taxes generated therefrom, and to evaluate the best practices in other states, including tax revenue structures and the enabling and implementing regulations and law, as well as comparing Alabama state laws to applicable Federal gaming laws.”
    The Council is to report its findings and recommendations to the Governor and Legislature by January 31, 2017, prior to the next legislative session.
    The Governor’s action comes after he and Attorney General Luther Strange sent a series of letters at the end of September 2016 urging local Sheriffs and District Attorneys around the state to enforce the laws prohibiting electronic bingo in their jurisdictions. This letter was sent to Greene County Sheriff Benison and D.A. Greg Griggers.Governor Bentley and Luther Strange sent a more specific and pointed letter to the Sheriffs and D. A.’s for Macon and Lowndes County, listing specific electronic bingo facilities, like Victoryland, which recently opened in these counties and requesting that they be closed based on Alabama law and Supreme Court decisions.
    The law enforcement officials in Macon and Lowndes responded to this letter saying that they did not have the capacity or desire to move against electronic bingo facilities in their jurisdictions.
    In his Executive Order creating the Gaming Advisory Council, the Governor indicates that gaming in Alabama has been the subject of dispute and controversy and that the State of Alabama needs a fresh perspective and a clear path forward as it relates to gaming and games of chance.
    Efforts by the Governor to pass an Alabama State Lottery in this summer’s special legislative session met with defeat because of different gaming interests, including electronic bingo in counties with local Constitutional Amendments. Indian casinos in Alabama and casinos in other states, were not satisfied or protected by the legislation. The proceeds of the state lottery would have been used primarily to support Medicaid in the General Fund and possibly scholarships and pre-K educational programs.
    The Governor’s proposed Advisory Council on Gaming will have at least 11 members appointed as follows:

    • five (5) appointed by the Governor;
    • two members of the House of Representatives, appointed by the Speaker of the House, one Republican and one Democrat;
    • two members of the Alabama Senate, appointed by the President Pro Temp, one Democrat and one Republican;
    • one representative of the Alabama District Attorneys Association, appointed by the Governor;
    • one representative of the Alabama Sheriffs Association, appointed by the Governor;
    • and additional appointments as the Governor deems necessary.

    In the two weeks since his announcement of the Council, the Governor has not publically announced the appointment of any members.
    The Greene County Democrat contacted Luther “Nat” Winn, CEO of Greenetrack for a statement of the Governor’s Advisory Council on Gaming. “ I hope Governor Bentley is serious and sincere about seeking a way forward for gaming in the state and not just trying to divert attention from the issue. He seems to be moving slowly in naming the Council. They have a lot of work to do in preparing recommendations for the upcoming legislative session, which begins in February 2017,” said Winn.
    “We intend to continue operating in Greene County under Constitutional Amendment 743, because the voters of Greene County authorized electronic bingo. We know that Luther Strange has appealed our latest case to the Alabama Supreme Court, but we feel we are on sound legal and constitutional grounds to operate electronic bingo in the county.
    “We feel the people of Greene County will support us and rally to our defense if the Supreme Court decides against the jobs, contributions and progress provided by gaming in Greene County,” said Winn.

  • Community awaits Eutaw decision on hearing held for police officers

    On Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2016, Eutaw Mayor Hattie Edwards and the City Council held a closed personnel hearing reportedly for three Eutaw police officers who had been placed on administrative leave. At the close of the hearing, the outcome was not announced. It is expected that at the next regularly scheduled city council meeting on Tuesday, October 25, the public will be be given more information regarding the hearing and subsequent decisions.
    In an attempt to ascertain who has hiring and firing authority in city government, the Greene County Democrat staff researched recent municipal cases on this issue which resulted in Supreme Court decisions.
    The Alabama Supreme Court has issued various case rulings confirming that, in Alabama, mayors alone have the power to hire and fire municipal employees. In 2009 the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of Fairfield Mayor Kenneth Coachman, who had sued five members of the city council after they voted in favor of an ordinance that would have stripped the mayor of appointing authority. Jefferson County Circuit Judge Dan King ruled that, according to state law, the authority rested with the mayor. The Supreme Court upheld King’s decision.
    In similar cases steaming from the 2009 decision, the Alabama Supreme Court issued rulings against the city councils of Fairhope and Daphne when they passed ordinances removing their mayors’ power over personnel matters and giving it to themselves. The Supreme Court forced the city councils to undo the ordinances.
    At press time, the Democrat was unable to reach the city attorney to corroborate the process and procedures involved in hiring and firing practices in Eutaw Municipal Government.

  • Girls freed from Boko Haram reunited with families

    Jane Onyanga-Omara , USA TODAY

    nigerian-girls-returned

     Some of the Nigerian girls

    The 21 girls who were rescued last week after being kidnapped by the militant group Boko Haram more than two years ago have been reunited with their families.

    They were among more than 200 students taken from their school in the northeastern Nigerian town of Chibok by the extremists in April 2014, sparking the global “Bring Back Our Girls” social media campaign.

    Speaking at a ceremony in the capital Abuja on Sunday, one of the girls said they were starved, the BBC reported. Many were forced to convert from Christianity to Islam.

    Information Minister Lai Mohammed denied reports that the girls were released in exchange for four detained Boko Haram leaders. The Nigerian government also denied that a ransom was paid. Some 197 kidnapped girls are believed to remain missing.

    The negotiations for the girls’ release were brokered by the International Red Cross and the Swiss government.

    Speaking Sunday, the Nigerian president’s spokesman said the Boko Haram splinter group that released the girls was willing to negotiate the release of 83 more girls.

    “These 21 released girls are supposed to be tale bearers to tell the Nigerian government that this faction of Boko Haram has 83 more Chibok girls,” Garba Shehu, spokesman for President Muhammadu Buhari, told Reuters by phone                  https://twitter.com/PhilipObin/status/787768790012551169

    “The faction said it is ready to negotiate if the government is willing to sit                            down with them,” he said, adding that authorities were willing to negotiate.

     

    Commenting on work to free the 83 girls, Mohammed said: “Already we are on phase two and we are already in discussions. But of course you know these are very delicate negotiations, there are some promises we made also about the confidentiality of the entire exercise and we intend to keep them.”

    International Alert — a London-based peace building charity — said it worked with the United Nations Children’s Fund in Nigeria and local organizations to help reintegrate girls who escaped from Boko Haram into their communities.

    “Tragically, the ordeal does not end when these girls and women escape or are rescued,” said Kimairis Toogood, an adviser for International Alert in Nigeria. “Many face rejection, and even violence, from their own families and communities due to stigma around sexual violence — especially if they return with a baby. This makes re-integration extremely difficult.”

    Shehu told Reuters that the splinter group said the rest of the kidnapped Chibok girls were with the part of the group that is under the control of Abubakar Shekau, who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group, also known as ISIL or ISIS, in March 2015.

    A number of extremists have moved away from Shekau over his failure to adhere to ISIL’s guidance, Reuters reported. In August, ISIL named Musab al-Barnawi as its new leader in west Africa.

     

     

  • #BlackoutBR protests, boycotts continue in Baton Rouge over Alton Sterling shooting

    By Meghan Ellis (The Drum, NNPA Member)

     

    blackoutprotest_thedrum_lores.jpg

    Protesters line the walls of a conference room at city hall during a police reform meeting in Baton Rouge, La. (The Drum)

     

     

     

    BATON ROUGE — As shootings continue to plague cities across the country, frustrated citizens are continuing their fight for justice. With each shooting, dashcam and other forms of surveillance footage have been released to ensure complete disclosure. Unfortunately, that hasn’t been the case with the deadly shooting of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge.

     

    After nearly three months, only the cell phone videos filmed by spectators have been released. In addition to the withholding of dashcam footage and other surveillance videos, Baton Rouge police officers Blane Salamoni and Howie Lake II are still on administrative leave. No charges have been brought against the officers and citizens are wondering why.

     

    Now, citizens and protesters are demanding answers. Monday, Sept. 26 was declared #BlackOutBR, a day where local citizens wore black clothes and did not work, go to college, or shop. A rally was held at the steps of City Hall calling for information on the Alton Sterling case. After the rally, protesters entered a police reform meeting to hear the committee’s plans and to demand answers and action.

     

    “The problem is, with an exception of a few, we don’t see these people in the community,” businessman Cleve Dunn Jr. told the committee. “When you look around and you don’t see the community, there should be no meeting.”

     

    The committee included District Attorney Hillar Moore, councilmembers Tara Wicker, Donna Collins Lewis and Erika Green, Baton Rouge Police Department Chief Carl Dabadie Jr., local pastors and residents.

     

    “What happens when leaders and protesters disrupt a meeting on police reform? Things get uncomfortable, they get real, and then they get a seat at the table, alongside the chief of police, the DA, & the DOJ,” wrote artist Walter Geno McLaughlin on Facebook.

     

    More than 30 protesters lined the walls of the small meeting room, including Sterling’s aunts. “We want to press upon our local government but also go all the way to feds that we want a decision on the investigation, said Dunn who explained the reason for the gathering and expressed protesters’ demands.

     

    “This issue of Alton Sterling has been divested from the people in this room as much as we hate to hear that,” said Will Jorden, who is an assistant district attorney and prosecutor. “We hear the frustration. I am frustrated. These pastors are frustrated. But what this [committee] does is give the people a sense of legitimacy and to be able to move forward with positive change.”

     

    Wicker said that the group wasn’t charged with coming up with solutions. “That’s not our job. That’s not what we are doing here,” said Wicker. “Our charge is to setup an infrastructure so that what you are saying can actually be heard, documented and put into a policy paper that will be submitted as the voice of the community.”

     

    Protesters presented a list of demands which included a request for changes to be made to city and state flood contracts. The change to contracts would require the cancellation of current contracts in order to include Black-owned firms in renegotiations. The third demand is in reference to police reform. With incidents of alleged injustices resolved with internal investigations, community leaders and local citizens adamantly believe there needs to be a task force in place on state and local law enforcement levels to reform police departments across the city and state.

     

        The Drum is a member publication of the National Newspaper Publishers Association. Learn more about becoming a member at www.nnpa.org.