Greene County Democrat

Category: General News

  • Superintendent submits end-of-school personnel and program adjustments

    Greene County School System gets Clean Report from State Examiners Office

    The Greene County Board of Education held its monthly session, Monday, May 19, 2025 with all board members present, with the exception of Mr. Brandon Merriweather.
    The first presentation to the board was the FY 2024 State Audit Report given by Ms. Shelly Patrenos of the State Examiners Office. The audit review focused on Title I Federal Program and the Child Nutrition Program. Ms. Patrenos applauded the board and staff for having a ‘clean report.’ She commended CSFO Ms. Marquita Lennon for  the excellence and transparency of her work. The full State Audit report will be available to the board by the end of June.
    The board acted on the personnel and administrative items, presented by Superintendent Dr. Corey Jones, which signal the usual procedures for ending the regular school term and initiating programs and project for the summer session.
    The board approved the following administrative service items recommended by the superintendent.
    * Quote from Glenwood to teach a 2-day MCS class for up to 10 staff members in the Greene County School System in the amount of $3,300.
    * Agreement between Greene County Board of Education and Stericycle for biohazards pick up services for a pickup fee of $53.33 a month.
    * Quote from Allianz Solutions for ACT Bootcamp June 9 -12 for up to 25 students per session in the amount of $8,100
    * Quote from C & J Resources for ACT Bootcamp July 7 – 10 in the amount of $4,060.
    * Permission for Black Scholars Committee to use 2 buses to transport students from Greene County to Stillman College June 23 – July 18.
    * Code Explorers Partnership agreement with the Alabama State Department of Education’s Computer Science for Alabama Initiative and Southeastern Center of Robotics Education (SCORE) at Auburn University for the following teachers: (Teachers will receive compensation via the program): Carolyn Beck – Kindergarten; Danielle Sanders-Williams – 1st grade; Montoya Binion – 2nd grade; Walter Taylor – 2nd grade.
    * 4-day work week for all extended employees beginning June 2, 2025, and ending July 26, 2025.
    * Payment of all bills, claims, and payroll.
    * Bank reconciliations as submitted by Mrs. Marquita Lennon, CSFO.
    * Certified bid from Game Day Athletic Surfaces, Inc., the only bidder, in the amount of $1,683,748.00 for athletic improvements (Phase I Track).
    Superintendent to hire legal representation for personnel matter.
    The personnel service items approved by the board included the following:
    * Retirement of Trudi Finley, Kindergarten teacher at Eutaw Primary School, effective June 1, 2025.
    * Resignations of Lorrisa Holder, Science TEAMS teacher, effective June 3, 2025.
    Employment of Lorrisa Holder, Career Counselor at Greene County Career Center (10-month). * Letters of termination for “Additional Services” contracts to the following employees: (Separate Contract): Greene County High School – Janice Jeames-Askew – Athletic Director; Corey Cockrell – Head Football Coach; Zaddrick Smith – Assistant Football; Tracey Hunter – Head Girls track; Torethia Mitchell – Head Girls Basketball & Volleyball; Patricia Maiden – Assistant Volleyball; Rodney Wesley – Assistant Boys Basketball (JV), Head Baseball; Howard Crawford – Head Boys Basketball/Head Boys Track; Lorrisa Holder – Assistant Girls Basketball;Kirin Greene – Band Director; Paula Calligan – Dance-line Coach; Drenda Morton – Cheerleader Sponsor. 
    Personnel for Summer Learning program at a rate of $50 an hour for Educators and $25.00 an hour for Aides, June 2-30, 2025, Monday – Thursday, 8:00 am -1:00 pm. Eutaw Primary School: Pamela Pasteur; Pamela McGee; Keisha Williams; LaShaun Henley; Gwendolyn Webb – Aide; Mary Hobson, Special Services Aide; Carla Durrett. Robert Brown Middle School:Vanessa Bryant; Demetria Lyles; Talicia Williams; Raven Bryant; Felecia Smith. Greene County High School-Credit Recovery: Janice Jeames Askew; Drenda Morton – Aide; Angela Harkness; Jacqueline Edwards, Custodian.
    * Non-renewal of the following employees: Eutaw Primary School– Shana Lucy, Third grade Teacher; .Katina Mickens, Special Ed. Teacher. Robert Brown Middle School – Dena Jordan, 7th/8th grade Math TEAMS teacher; Cedric Murry, 7th/8th grade Business teacher; Dawn Cook, 6th grade teacher.
    * Personnel for CTE Camp to be paid at a rate of $40.00 per hour – June 23 – 27, 2025: LaMonica Little; Shamyra Jones.
    Personnel to participate in AMSTI training sessions on July 29 and 30, 2025 from 8:30 am-3:30 pm with a stipend to be paid to educators at $37.50 per hour: Robert Brown Middle School – Annie Howard; Demetria Lyles; Vanessa Bryant; Akia Williams; Henry Miles; Tavaris Lacy; Breshayla Hoskins.

    CSFO Marquita Lennon presented the following financial snapshot for the period ending April 30, 2025. General fund balance totaled $8,116,154.66 (reconciles to the summary cash report.) Accounts payable check register totaled $322,328.95. Payroll register totaled $931,658.39 (total gross pay to include employer match items). The combined ending fund balance totaled $8,243,402.36. In operating reserves, the school system has 7.79 months in combined general fund research; 7.79 months in cash reserve. All bank accounts have been reconciled. Then local revenue report showed $124,171.05 in property taxes; $86,572.81 in sales taxes and $5,040.96 in other taxes, all totaling $215,784.82.
    Superintendent Jones’ report to the board gave overviews of the various closing of school activities. He also noted that the Eutaw Primary ACAP test scores were complete, but the results are still in embargo, not officially released. Jones proudly stated that the scholars demonstrated 100% growth improvement.

  • Newswire : South Africans dispute claims of genocide against white farmers in their country

     

    Afrikaner refugees from South Africa, at Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Va., on May 12.Julia Demaree Nikhinson / AP

    By Curtis Bunn, NBC News
    A day after 59 white South Africans were welcomed to America as refugees, more than 86,000 South African farmers — who are mostly white — are gathering this week at the NAMPO Harvest Day trade fair, an annual agricultural exhibition considered the largest in the Southern Hemisphere. 
    Over four days, the attendees will discuss innovations in technology, collaborations and various other elements of an industry that last year generated nearly $14 billion in revenue. 
    Notably, according to one participant, there is no planned discussion of violence against white farmers or “Afrikaner refugees escaping government-sponsored, race-based discrimination, including racially discriminatory property confiscation” without compensation, as President Donald Trump wrote in a Feb. 7 executive order that opened the way for the 59 South Africans to come to U.S., despite a ban on refugees from other nations. That ban includes refugees from Afghanistan and Iraqi, who served as interpreters and aides to U. S. armed forces.
    The executive order referenced South Africa’s Expropriation Act enacted last year, which in some cases allows the government to seize unused land without compensation, something Cyril Ramaphosa, the country’s president, said has not happened. 
    The act awakened a profoundly troubling argument over land rights. South Africa’s dark history of racism includes the confiscation of land from Black residents, both before and during the apartheid. Afrikaners, the minority white descendants of Dutch and French settlers who arrived in South Africa in the 1600s, were leaders of the apartheid regime that ended in 1994.  
    The purported goal of the Expropriation Act is to shrink the vast land ownership disparity that came with the oppressive rule. According to the organization Action for Southern Africa, 72% of farms and agricultural holdings are owned by whites, who make up 7.3% of the population. Black Africans, representing 81.4%, own only 4% of the land. 
    Trump asserted on Monday, ahead of the refugees’ arrival in the U.S., that “white farmers are being brutally killed and the land is being confiscated in South Africa.” 
    Yet Wandile Sihlobo, chief economist of the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa, said that the spirit of NAMPO this week reaffirms that “genocide” of white South African farmers “was imaginary and not happening in our country.” 
    “We’re all disturbed that the U.S. side is alleging that there’s genocide and mistreatment of white farmers in South Africa. It is incorrect,” said Sihlobo, who is also co-author of the book “The Uncomfortable Truth About South Africa’s Agriculture.” 
    “If anything, the sector continues to flourish. [Trump’s] comments are misinformed and not mirroring the reality on the ground in the country,” he said.

     

  • Newswire : DOJ charges N.J. congresswoman with assaulting law enforcement at ICE facility

    Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., with Rep. Rob Menendez and Rep. Bonnie Watson Colemen holds a press conference on May 9, 2025 after Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested while protesting at Delancey Hall ICE detention prison, in Newark, N.J.Angelina Katsanis / AP file

    By Raquel Coronell Uribe and Ryan J. Reilly, NBC News

    WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has filed charges against a Democratic member of Congress, alleging that she assaulted law enforcement officers during a protest outside an immigration detention facility in New Jersey earlier this month. 
    Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., faces two counts of assaulting, resisting, and impeding law enforcement officials in connection with an incident at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Newark, according to court documents made public on Tuesday. 
    Interim U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba, who served as Trump’s personal attorney and previously worked as counselor to the president, announced the charges against McIver on X on Monday night, before they were made public. On Tuesday, McIver told NBC News that she had learned of the charges on social media after Habba posted about them. 
    “It’s political intimidation, and I’m looking forward to my day in court,” she said Tuesday. McIver had called the charges “purely political” in a statement on Monday night and said she looked forward “to the truth being laid out clearly in court.”
    “Earlier this month, I joined my colleagues to inspect the treatment of ICE detainees at Delaney Hall in my district. We were fulfilling our lawful oversight responsibilities, as members of Congress have done many times before, and our visit should have been peaceful and short. Instead, ICE agents created an unnecessary and unsafe confrontation when they chose to arrest Mayor Baraka,” she said. 
    Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche backed Habba’s statement, writing on X that “assaults on federal law enforcement will not be tolerated.”
    Habba also said her office had dropped trespassing charges against Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, a candidate for New Jersey governor who was arrested on May 9, the day McIver and two other House Democrats were at the facility. “After extensive consideration, we have agreed to dismiss Mayor Baraka’s misdemeanor charge of trespass for the sake of moving forward,” Habba said.
    An affidavit by Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Robert Tansey said that McIver made physical contact with another Homeland Security Investigations special agent as well as an Immigration and Customs Enforcement deportation officer when they protested Baraka’s removal.
    An affidavit by Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Robert Tansey said that McIver made physical contact with another Homeland Security Investigations special agent as well as an Immigration and Customs Enforcement deportation officer when they protested Baraka’s removal.
    Baraka was arrested during a chaotic scene that involved a protest outside the ICE detention center in Newark known as Delaney Hall. McIver was one of three Democratic members of the New Jersey congressional delegation present who have repeatedly said they were on site to inspect the facility in their capacity as lawmakers conducting federal oversight.
    Trump administration officials have accused the lawmakers of “storming into” the facility. “Members of Congress are not above the law and cannot illegally break into detention facilities,” Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said May 9.
    Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem argued Monday night in a statement on X that “a thorough review of the video footage of Delaney Hall and a full investigation” by her department supported the charge against McIver.
    House Democratic leaders condemned the charges against McIver in a joint statement Monday night, calling them “morally bankrupt” and saying they lacked “any basis in law or in fact.”
    “By visiting the detention center in Newark, Rep. McIver and two other Members of Congress were upholding their oath of office. They didn’t assault anyone, but were themselves aggressively mistreated by illegally masked individuals,” said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York and Reps. Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, Pete Aguilar and Ted Lieu of California and Joe Neguse of Colorado.
    “The proceeding initiated by the so-called U.S. Attorney in New Jersey is a blatant attempt by the Trump administration to intimidate Congress and interfere with our ability to serve as a check and balance on an out-of-control executive branch,” they said, adding that House Democrats will “respond vigorously in the days to come at a time, place and manner of our choosing.”

  • Newswire : Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ will destroy Medicaid, Food Stamps and other safety net programs for low-income people

    Stephen A. Crockett Jr., NewsOne

    The bill would extend tax cuts from 2017 and would include Trump’s 2024 campaign promises not to tax tips, Social Security, and car interest loans. There would also be a larger deduction, $32,000 for couples, a boost to the Child Tax Credit, and a $30,000 cap on state and local tax deductions.
    “That’s offset by $1.9 trillion in savings largely from the rollback of green energy tax credits, for a net tally of $3.7 trillion in costs over the decade, according to the most recent estimates — along with billions more in savings from the safety net cuts,” AP reports.
    Oh, and there would be some $350 billion to fund Trump’s mass deportation plans and the Pentagon.
    And to be able to do this, Republicans are looking to cut some $800 billion over the next 10 years to the Medicaid health care program, “which is used by 70 million Americans. These Medicaid cuts would result in more than 13 million people losing their health insurance. $290 billion to food aid in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP; and others,” AP reports.
    Speaker Mike Johnson has already claimed that he wants this bill pushed through by Memorial Day, sending it to the Senate, where Republicans are working on their own version. Johnson has been given the reins to create a bill that can get the 218 votes needed to pass the House, but good luck with that.
    The bill was blacked in the House Budget Committee last week, when four conservative Republican House members voted against the bill, because it did not cut the social safety net fast enough and soon enough to suit them. In a special Sunday night session, these representatives were promised additional unspecified concessions and voted the bill out of committee.
    Senators of rural states, many of them are Republicans are concerned that the bill, as it stands, would leave many of their constituents without healthcare, or forced to pay more.
    “Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said he’s fine with the new work requirements and antifraud provisions that House Republicans have proposed for Medicaid, but he raised concerns about their “cost-sharing” proposal, which he said would make ‘beneficiaries pay more.’”
    “These are working people in particular who are going to have to pay more,” Hawley told the Hill. “The provider tax in particular, that could have a big impact in my state and lead to reduced coverage, so I’ve got some concerns. I think we need to look really, really carefully at that. I continue to maintain my position that we should not be cutting Medicaid benefits,” he said.

  • Federal court strikes down Alabama map, citing racial discrimination, defiance

    Cong. Terri Sewell and Shomari Figures

    The court ruled Alabama’s map violates the Voting Rights Act, ensuring continued use of a court-ordered map enabling two Black Congressional representatives.

    By Bill Britt, Editor-in-Chief, Alabama Political Reporters

    In a sweeping rebuke of racial gerrymandering, a federal court has struck down Alabama’s 2023 congressional map, ruling that it was enacted with “intentional racial discrimination” and violates both the Voting Rights Act and the U.S. Constitution. The decision clears the way for continued use of a court-ordered map that, for the first time in state history, enabled two Black lawmakers to win seats in Congress, in November 2024.
    The ruling follows a full trial in Milligan v. Allen, where judges concluded that Alabama lawmakers not only failed to correct the unlawful dilution of Black voting strength, but deliberately defied court orders to do so. The court found that the Legislature’s actions amounted to “a strategic attempt to checkmate the injunction that ordered it.”

    Historic Breakthrough in Representation
    The remedial map adopted for the 2024 cycle — drawn by a special master appointed by the court — culminated in a historic breakthrough: Alabama voters elected two Black representatives to Congress for the first time ever. U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, D-AL-7, was re-elected, and U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures, D-AL-2, won his seat in a newly redrawn district designed to comply with the Voting Rights Act.
    “This win is a testament to the dedication and persistence of many generations of Black Alabamians who pursued political equality at great cost,” the plaintiffs said in a joint statement, emphasizing that “we know that all Alabamians will benefit from today’s victory, just as we have benefited from the work of others.”
    The case was first filed in 2021, on behalf of Evan Milligan, Khadidah Stone, Shalela Dowdy, Letetia Jackson, Greater Birmingham Ministries and the Alabama State Conference of the NAACP. The plaintiffs were represented by the Legal Defense Fund, ACLU, ACLU of Alabama, and the Birmingham-based firm Wiggins, Childs, Pantazis, Fisher and Goldfarb.
    U.S Rep. Terri Sewell offered her own insight on the federal district court’s ruling, saying, “In yet another victory for fair representation, a federal court has once again ruled unequivocally that the State of Alabama’s 2023 congressional map illegally dilutes the power of African American voters. Despite the state’s years-long legal battle to undo our progress, this ruling ensures that Black voters in Alabama will continue to have not one but two congressional districts where we can elect a candidate of our choice. Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act is indeed alive and enforceable!”

    Rep. Shomari C. Figures, D-AL-02, said the ruling reinforces the importance of equitable representation for Black voters. “The court ruled that the congressional districts in the state of Alabama were drawn in a way that did not allow Black people to have fair representation. The U.S. Supreme Court has already agreed once with the earlier ruling in this case, and it is my hope that this ruling puts the issue to rest because fair representation is central to the foundation of our democracy.”
    Court Unmoved by Alabama’s “Defiance”
    In its 600-page opinion, the three-judge panel concluded that the 2023 map, like its 2021 predecessor, unlawfully diluted Black voting strength by confining Black voters to a single majority-Black district despite clear evidence that two opportunity districts were both necessary and achievable.
    “We cannot understand the 2023 Plan as anything other than an intentional effort to dilute Black Alabamians’ voting strength and evade the unambiguous requirements of court orders standing in the way,” the judges wrote. They found that Alabama’s Black population is “sufficiently numerous and geographically compact” to form two such districts, and that voting in the state remains “intensely racially polarized.”
    The court cited trial testimony in which the state’s own legal team admitted that the Legislature “may have been hoping” to force another Supreme Court review by refusing to comply. The judges rejected this maneuver, writing that “if this record is insufficient to rebut the strong presumption of legislative good faith, then we doubt that the presumption is ever rebuttable.”
    A Legacy of Resistance — and a New Chapter
    Deuel Ross, deputy director of litigation at LDF, stated that Alabama’s “unprecedented defiance of the Supreme Court and the lower court orders harkens back to the darkest days of American history.” He called the ruling “a reaffirmation of the rule of law and the importance of protecting the fundamental right to vote.”
    Laurel Hattix, senior attorney at the ACLU of Alabama, said the decision was “an overdue acknowledgment of Alabama lawmakers’ persistent attempts to shut out Black voters from the electoral process,” and added, “for decades, Black Alabamians have organized and fought for not just their voting rights, but the voting rights of all Americans.”
    Davin Rosborough, deputy director of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project, underscored the broader implications: “The court has once again recognized that in order to comply with the Voting Rights Act, it is essential that Alabama’s congressional map have two opportunity districts for Black voters.”
    Preclearance Request and What Comes Next
    The court permanently enjoined Secretary of State Wes Allen from using the invalidated 2023 map in future elections and ordered continued use of the remedial map through the remainder of the decade. A status conference is scheduled for May 28, 2025, to determine next steps.
    The plaintiffs have also requested that Alabama be placed back under federal “preclearance,” a provision of the Voting Rights Act that would require the state to obtain federal approval before implementing any new congressional map — a safeguard typically reserved for jurisdictions with a history of repeated violations.
    In its concluding remarks, the court warned that Alabama’s actions “fly in the face” of its own claim that it no longer needs federal oversight, writing: “We are troubled by the State’s view that even if we enter judgment for the Plaintiffs after a full trial, the State remains free to make the same checkmate move yet again — and again, and again, and again.”
    As the case now enters a new phase, the ruling stands as one of the most forceful judicial rebukes of racial discrimination in redistricting in recent memory — and a landmark moment for the future of representation in Alabama.

  • Commission approves proposal seeking funds to complete sidewalk improvements at Courthouse Square

    Monday, May 12, 2025, the meeting of the Commission was called to order at 5:00 P.M. All commissioners were present. The Commissioners heard and voted on four proposals presented by Ms. Brenda Burke, County Administrator. She offered four issues on the agenda, for approval by the Commission, which were all passed unanimously.

    Commissioner Corey Cockrell welcomed the attendees at the meeting, Commissioner Allen Turner led the Invocation, and Commissioner Tennyson Smith led the motion to approve the previous minutes. Commissioners Roshanda Summerville and Smith led the motion to approve the agenda.

    The items considered and passed with unanimous vote included the following: (1) approval to the City of Eutaw’s use of six voting machines for an upcoming election; (2) allowing the Greene County Industrial Development Board (GCIDB) to complete the Streetscape Grant (sidewalks around the Old Court House) grant proposal to ALDOT; (3) An extension of one month for county employees with excess vacation time to utilize their benefits; (4) approval of a Beer License at a Truck Stop in Boligee that is located on the interstate.

    Chairperson Garria Spencer insisted that the six voting machines borrowed by the City of Eutaw be maintained and serviced by ES&S, the same company the county contracts with to assure security by transferring the voting machines.

    The Commission approved the Finance Report and Payment of Claims presented by Ms. Burke and carefully reviewed the Greene County Commission’s bank statement balances, when considering the four agenda items.

    The total funds on the statement are (Unrestricted) $3,224,610.52; (Restricted) $7,821,646.63; and (Investments) $1,899,505.22.

    With the votes on the agenda closed, Mr. John Cashin was recognized. He inquired about the possibility of the Commission joining with other entities, including the City of Eutaw, to resurface the airport runway. He explained his research on the possibility of matching funds and asked for clarification of the process to move forward. Chairman Spencer said he’d take it up with the Eutaw City Council and county engineers and return an answer to Mr. Cashin.

    The meeting was adjourned on a motion of Commissioner Summerville.

  • Greene County receives $41, 263 in BBCF grants Black Belt Community Foundation awards over $300,000 in community and arts grants

    Shown above are representatives of Greene County groups awarded BBCF community and arts grants. At far left are: Dr. Carol P. Zippert, a BBCF Founder; Ms. Darlene Robinson, BBCF Greene County Board Member and Ms. Felecia Lucky, BBCF President.
    BBCF presents grant award to the Society of Folk Arts & Culture which is sponsoring the 50th Celebration of the Black Belt Folk Roots Festival, August 23-24, 2025 in Eutaw, AL.

    L to R: Felecia Lucky, BCF President; Darlene Robinson, BBCF Board Member, Carol P. Zippert, Festival Coordinator and Aaron Head, BBCF Arts Coordinator.

    The Black Belt Community Foundation (BBCF) awarded $344,447.20 to 141 community and arts projects across its 12 county service area in the Alabama Black Belt Region, including Bullock, Choctaw, Dallas, Greene, Hale, Lowndes, Macon, Marengo, Perry, Pickens, Sumter and Wilcox. The presentations were made at its 2025 Arts and Community Grant Ceremony held Saturday, May 3, 2025 at Wallace Community College Selma. “As we continue to celebrate BBCF’s 20th anniversary through May, the Black Belt Community Foundation is proud to award these funds in 141 different grants to community and arts organizations across the 12 counties we serve,” said BBCF President Felecia Lucky.
    Greene County received 13 grants for community and arts projects, in the amount of $41,263.24, awarded to the following organizations: Alabama Art Casting, Boligee Senior Center, Boss Ties LLC, Broader Horizons, Bundle of Joy Praise Team, Eutaw Elderly Village Inc., Greene County Human Rights Commission, Mount Pleasant Home Protection Society, Operations Taking Back Our Community (TBOC), Release the Earth, Society of Folk Arts and Culture (Black Belt Festival Grant,) United Purpose Inc. The 2025 arts grants, including the Black Belt Folk Roots Festival, totaled $14,125; community grants totaled $27, 138.24.
    Ms. Darlene Robinson, BBCF board member representing Greene County, stated that each of the 12 counties has a group of volunteers, known as Community Associates, who raise funds for the Foundation and these resources, which receive a percentage match from BBCF, are allocated in grants to the respective county. “We hold a lot of fundraising activities in Greene County, but that money can only be spent in Greene County through grants,” she said.
    “We continue our focus on empowering local initiatives by first listening and responding to the very needs voiced by the communities themselves — all while fostering growth and impacting the entire Black Belt region,” stated President Lucky.

  • Newswire : Disturbing prank appears to be a growing trend Judges: Pizza deliveries are meant to intimidate

    Federal District Judge  Ether Salas, whose son was killed

    By Evann Gastaldo, Newser

     

    Federal judges have been receiving hundreds of unwanted pizza deliveries since February, and no, it’s not fueled by random acts of kindness. The judges say the pizza deliveries are threatening, and largely go to judges overseeing lawsuits that are challenging Trump administration policies, the Washington Post reports.
    Some have even been delivered to relatives of judges, and in a particularly chilling move, some have been placed in the name of Daniel Anderl—the son of US District Judge Esther Salas, who was fatally shot at the family’s New Jersey home in 2020 by an attorney masquerading as a FedEx delivery person. Senate Democrats are calling on the FBI and the Department of Justice to investigate the deliveries, Fox News reports.

    “What does that say to those judges?” Salas said in a television interview last month, per NJ.com. “It says I know where you live. I know where your kids live. And do you want to end up like Judge Salas? Do you want to end up like her son? These are unprecedented attacks on judicial officers.” One US Circuit judge who spoke to the Post says she’s personally received seven unsolicited deliveries over the past few months, including one just after she ruled against the Trump administration—an administration that has been brazen in its attacks on the judiciary.

    Reuters recently published a report on the threats judges have faced after ruling against the administration, including threats of violence targeting their families. Attorney General Pam Bondi said last week she was “just learning” about the pizza intimidation, the Washington Examiner reports.

  • Newswire : Trump abruptly fires Carla Hayden: The first Black woman to serve as Librarian of Congress

    By Lauren Burke, NNPA Congressional Reporter

     

    President Donald Trump abruptly fired the Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden on May 8. Hayden made history in 2016 as the first woman and first African American to run the Library of Congress. Her firing arrived in the form of an abrupt email in the evening hours. There are fears that President Trump may also target a second prominent Black federal official, Smithsonian Chief Lonnie Bunch, for no other reason than the perceived political bias in a position not known for partisan activity.
    “Carla, on behalf of President Donald J. Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position as the Librarian of Congress is terminated effective immediately. Thank you for your service,” the terse communication to Hayden read. The Library of Congress confirmed that Hayden had been informed she was fired by The White House. According to the Associated Press, Hayden “recently faced criticism from a conservative advocacy group aligned with Trump’s political allies. The group, the American Accountability Foundation, accused her and other library officials of promoting children’s books with what it called “radical” themes.”
    Since his return to office Trump’s Administration has been focused on removing anyone who may disagree with their policy agenda. Many of the removals have introduced a sense of partisanship that Washington hasn’t seen in certain sectors such as the Library of Congress. “This is yet another example in the disturbing pattern of the President removing dedicated public servants without cause—likely to fill the position with one of his ‘friends’ who is not qualified and does not care about protecting America’s legacy,” wrote House Democrat Rosa DeLauro in a statement on Hayden’s firing.
    “President Trump’s unjustified decision to fire Dr. Carla Hayden as the Librarian of Congress is deeply troubling and just the latest example of Trump’s assault on the legislative branch of government. It’s also the latest demonstration of his blatant disregard for public servants who dedicate their lives to serving the American people,” wrote U.S. Senator Alex Padilla of California in a statement late on May 8.
    Some Constitutional experts are encouraging Hayden to sue since she is part of the Legislative branch, serving Congress but was fired by the Executive branch, which does not authorize or supervise her position. She is also the guardian of Federal records and has challenged Trump for his handling of Federal documents in his first administration.

  • Newswire : Black America celebrates African Descent Heritage of Pope Leo XIV

    By Stacy M. Brown
Black Press USA Senior National Correspondent

    Black America is taking pride in a truth shaking up the Vatican and resonating through the streets of New Orleans: Pope Leo XIV—formerly Cardinal Robert Prevost of Chicago—has Black and Creole roots. The Pope’s factual anthropological roots are not just symbolic. According to genealogist Jari Honora, his maternal lineage traces directly to the Black community of New Orleans’ 7th Ward, with family ties to Haiti, and census records identifying his ancestors as “Black” or “Mulatto.” “
    By the Europeans’ own ‘1/8th’ rules, we have a Black Pope,” noted author Elie Mystal declared. “Anyway, Pope’s grandfather is Haitian. We kind of got a Black Pope. ‘End Woke’ is not gonna be happy about this.” Further, New Orleans historian Jari Christopher Honora also speaking to the National Catholic Reporter and Black Catholic Messenger, detailed how the pope’s grandparents married in 1887 at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church on Annette Street in New Orleans before migrating north. His mother, Mildred Martínez, was the first child in the family born in Chicago. “The Holy Father’s ancestors are identified as either Black or Mulatto,” Honora said.
    The Chicago Tribune and New York Times also reported on Pope Leo’s mixed-race background and Creole lineage, noting that his election marks a defining moment in the Church’s evolving identity. “As a Black man, a proud son of New Orleans, and the U.S. Congressman representing the very 7th Ward neighborhood where our new Pope’s family hails from, I am bursting with pride today,” said Rep. Troy Carter.
    “This is history! The first American Pope, with Creole and Haitian roots, rising from the streets of New Orleans to the Vatican. As a Xavier University alum, I know how deeply faith and resilience run in our community. We celebrate this moment—with joy, with prayers, and with pride.” Former New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial called Leo XIV’s background “universal,” saying, “Here’s an American whose ministry was in Peru, who has roots in the American South and also ancestry in the American Black community.”
    Leo XIV is a member of the Augustinian Order, named after the African theologian St. Augustine of Hippo. His election came from a conclave in which two other leading contenders—Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana and Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu of the Democratic Republic of Congo—were also men of African descent.
    But Leo XIV stood apart—not just as the first pope from the U.S. but as one known for his outspokenness on racial justice, immigrant rights, gun reform, and the abolition of the death penalty. TIME Magazine reported that his selection represented a Vatican rebuke of efforts by wealthy Americans and political operatives aligned with Donald Trump to influence the papal outcome.
    Known in Rome as “The Latin Yankee,” Leo XIV used his verified X account (@drprevost) to amplify criticism of Trump-era immigration policies, often reposting commentary from respected Catholic figures. The New York Post reported that his last post before his election was a retweet of Catholic journalist Rocco Palmo slamming Trump’s alliance with El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele over migrant deportations. Back in 2017, the Roman Catholic leader also reposted a message quoting Chicago Archbishop Blase Cupich, calling Trump’s refugee bans “a dark hour of US history.”
    Though Trump offered lukewarm congratulations from the White House driveway, his far-right allies were quick to lash out. Laura Loomer tweeted, “WOKE MARXIST POPE,” calling Pope Leo “just another Marxist puppet in the Vatican. ”But outside the MAGA echo chamber, in Black communities across the globe, the emotion is pride. “The pope is Black,” journalist Clarence Hill Jr. said bluntly. And that means something in the Black neighborhoods of Chicago and the Creole corridors of New Orleans.
    Many said it means representation, resilience, and the reshaping of history at the highest level of the Catholic Church. “We celebrate this moment—not because it erases the struggles of our past, but because it affirms that our faith, our heritage, and our presence matter,” Rep. Carter said. “This is history, and it belongs to all of us.”
    The  Reverend Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. affirmed, “On behalf of the Black Press of America as the authentic voice of 50 million African Americans and millions more throughout the African diaspora, we join to celebrate Pope Leo XVI, a world leader of African descent who speaks truth to power with courage and grace.”