Black History Month Part 1: Langston Hughes: Dream Deferred
The best month of the year has started, I’m a little late but I’ll be posting 28 black historical people and facts for the entire month of February! First up Langston Hughes
Ex-Youth Care Worker Sentenced to 19 Years for Sex Abuse of Teens at AZ Immigrant Shelter, Exposing Some to HIV
A former youth care worker convicted of sexually abusing seven teenage boys at a Phoenix-area shelter for immigrant children has been sentenced to 19 years in prison.
Prosecutors say 25-year-old Levian D. Pacheco of Phoenix faced a tougher punishment at his Jan. 14 sentencing because he exposed some victims to the HIV virus.
A jury found Pacheco guilty in September on seven counts of abusive sexual contact with a ward and three counts of sexual abuse of a ward.
Prosecutors say Pacheco sexually abused the boys at the Southwest Key facility in Mesa between August 2016 and July 2017.
The teens were being held in official detention pending possible deportation.
Pacheco was in charge of supervising them.
Pacheco wasn’t working there when family separations began in large numbers last year.
South Dakota Becomes Latest State to Allow Concealed Handguns Without a Permit
It’s now legal to carry a concealed handgun without a permit in South Dakota.
In signing the legislation Thursday, Gov. Kristi Noem made her state the latest to allow the practice. It’s the first bill she’s signed into law since she took office last month.
The legislation, which will go into effect on July 1, is designed to “protect the Second Amendment rights of South Dakotans by allowing constitutional carry,” she said.
“More than 230 years ago, the Founding Fathers of our country penned the Constitution that has since laid the framework for centuries of policies,” the Republican governor said.
“They so firmly believed in the importance of the freedom to bear arms that they enshrined it into the Constitution’s Second Amendment.”
Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia and Wyoming also do not require a permit to carry a concealed weapon, the National Rifle Association and the National Conference of State Legislatures said.
The Argus Leader, a daily newspaper based in Sioux Falls, quotes the governor as saying a “robust and thoughtful process” of debate resulted in the passage of the measure.
She says the law still maintains “restrictions… on who can carry a concealed handgun” and residents can decide for themselves whether to get a permit, according to the newspaper.
“A common sense measure”
The National Rifle Association applauded the new law as a reasonable move that enhances legislation already on the books.
The state already recognizes the right to carry a firearm openly without a permit, the NRA said.
“Current law, however, requires a state-issued permit to carry that same firearm under a coat or in a bag. This new law simply extends the current open carry rule to concealed carry. Those who obtain permits will still enjoy the reciprocity agreements that South Dakota has with other states.”
Chris W. Cox, executive director of the group’s Institute for Legislative Action, thanked Noem “for her leadership on this critical issue.”
“This law is a common sense measure that allows law-abiding South Dakotans to exercise their fundamental right to self-protection in the manner that best suits their needs.”
The permit idea remains popular, polling shows
Everytown for Gun Safety, a group fighting gun violence and promoting gun safety, released polling underscoring the popularity of a permit requirement.
It said 84% of South Dakota voters, including 85% of South Dakota gun owners, back a permit to carry a concealed handgun in public.
The polling shows the permit requirement has wide majorities of support from both Republicans and Democrats.
“Not a single state passed permitless carry legislation last year to allow people to carry hidden, loaded handguns in public without a permit,” said Everytown press secretary Adam Sege. “By contrast, 21 states rejected permitless carry bills.”
“Going backwards”
Shannon Hoime is the South Dakota chapter leader of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, a volunteer group working under Everytown. She said the legislation is unpopular despite its passage.
“In general, the public is embarrassed and disgusted that South Dakota is going backwards,” she said.
“We can honor the Second Amendment and make smarter decisions.”
Hoime said the group will continue to promote responsible gun ownership and help educate the public.
“We’ll just do our work on the ground to keep people informed and keep people safe,” she said.
Video shows man faking fall to get insurance money
And the award for worst actor in an insurance scam goes to …
A New Jersey subcontractor has been busted for staging a laughably bad fake fall — all caught on videotape — to score insurance money, authorities said Friday.
Alexander Goldinsky, 57, of Randolph is seen on the surveillance-camera footage first tossing ice on the floor in the break room at an unnamed Woodbridge firm last fall — then plopping down in a fake tumble, according to prosecutors.
In the footage, Goldinski, an independent contractor for the firm All Gold Industries, stands over the ice and looks around for a few moments before half-sitting, half toppling onto the floor.
He later filed a false insurance claim for an ambulance service and treatment for “injuries” at a nearby hospital, the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office said.
But the bad actor was busted for the scam after authorities launched an investigation into his insurance claim, officials said.
“The investigation revealed that Goldinsky purposely threw the ice on the floor in the cafeteria at his workplace, placed himself on the ground and waited until he was discovered,” prosecutor’s office said in a press release.
On Jan. 15, he was charged with insurance fraud and theft for the allegedly phony fall, which occurred between Sept. 1 and Nov. 1.
“Fraudulent claims cost everyone, and we will aggressively prosecute those who illegally manipulate the system,” prosecutor Andrew Carey said in a statement.
Goldinsky did not return a phone message from The Post seeking comment Friday.
But he claimed earlier to CBS that he was innocent.
“I didn’t do it, it was a mistake,” he said. He is scheduled to appear in court Feb. 7.
via: https://nypost.com/2019/02/01/video-shows-man-faking-fall-to-get-insurance-money-prosecutors/
Basketball coach shot player’s dad for complaining
A Brooklyn high-school basketball coach was arrested Friday for shooting the father of one of his players — after the dad complained that his kid wasn’t getting enough playing time, police said.
The shooting occurred Dec. 22, but the coach lied to police and said a third man pulled the trigger — and his victim was too wounded to speak and finger the real culprit, authorities said.
It was only recently that the victim recovered enough to tell police what really happened, officials said.
Coach Todd Myles of the Pathways in Technology Early College HS on the Paul Robeson campus allegedly lied to cops about what went down that night with local dad Christopher Hooks, who had supposedly shown up at his house to argue over his son’s playing time.
Myles told police that a third person had also arrived — with a gun — and started blasting, authorities said.
Myles is accused of shooting Hooks and then concocting his story about the random street thug in an attempt to cover his tracks. Myles, 42, had actually gotten grazed by a bullet at some point, though it’s unclear now whether this was a ricochet wound or intentional act, police said.
Myles is facing charges of attempted murder, assault and criminal use of a firearm. He was taken into custody on Friday morning by detectives.
The city Department of Education called the allegations against him “incredibly shocking.”
“We immediately reassigned Mr. Myles away from students, and we’ll work to remove him from payroll as soon as legally possible,” said a DOE spokesman. “We are providing support to the school and are working with the NYPD throughout this investigation.”
Myles began his education career as a substitute in 2001 and later became a teacher in 2004, according to DOE.
He started working at Robeson in 2013 and has no prior disciplinary incidents.
via: https://nypost.com/2019/02/01/basketball-coach-shot-players-dad-for-complaining-cops/
Bow Wow arrested, charged with assault
Rapper Bow Wow has been arrested and charged with misdemeanor battery charges, Atlanta police said Saturday.
The rapper, whose given name is Shad Moss, was arrested early Saturday following a fight with a woman in Midtown Atlanta, said Officer Jarius Daugherty.
When officers responded to the call, the woman told them Moss had assaulted her but the rapper said the woman had assaulted him, police said.
“Officers were unable to determine the primary aggressor of the altercation, so both parties were charged with battery,” Daugherty said in a statement.
Both suffered minor injuries and were taken to the Fulton County Jail.
Moss was being held in jail on $8,000 signature bond, jail records show.
The Fulton County Sheriff’s Office said he should be able to process out of the facility later Saturday.
CNN has reached to Bow Wow’s representatives for comment.
via: https://pix11.com/2019/02/02/rapper-bow-wow-arrested-charged-with-assault/
Girl comes to rescue after great-grandmother suffers stroke
NASH COUNTY, N.C. — A North Carolina woman suffered a stroke while driving. Fortunately her 7-year-old great granddaughter knew just what to do.
Last Friday, Nakhia Silver was riding home from the bus stop with her great-grandmother, Phyllis Blackwell.
“She had turned the car around, and instead, she hit the stop sign. She had her eyes closed and stuff and she didn’t talk,” Nakhia told WNCN,
The girl knew she had to act fast. First, she put the car into park. Then she ran home to tell her family.
“Sometimes I watch when my mom didn’t have a car, she used to drive my grandmother’s car and I be watching where she drives and stuff. All I had to do was twist this thing. It was kind of hard to do. But I was lucky that she had her foot on the pedal. If she didn’t have her foot on the pedal, it wouldn’t work,” the girl said.
“All I know is, things weren’t right,” Blackwell said.
Blackwell said she doesn’t remember much, but is thankful her great-granddaughter knew what to do.
“She’s been very forward for her age,” Blackwell said. “She is a very special child.”
Nakhia’s school honored her with student of the day for her quick thinking.
The sheriff’s department also shared the story on social media, gaining thousands of likes and stunning Nakhia’s mother, Latisha Redding.
“The social media and all of the attention, and just the love and care from everything, it’s like, wow,” Redding said.
Nakhia’s family is proud. Her great-grandmother summed it up this way:
“Never underestimate a child. Never underestimate them, because they will surprise you every time.”
via: https://abc7chicago.com/girl-comes-to-rescue-after-great-grandmother-suffers-stroke/5116684/
Boy, 13, arrested after telling Siri he wanted to shoot up a school
An Indiana middle schooler was busted for telling Siri he planned to open fire on a school — prompting the digital assistant to suggest possible ones nearby, police said in reports Friday.
The unnamed 13-year-old boy is accused of telling Siri, “I am going to shoot up a school,” the Valparaiso Police Department told the Northwest Indiana Times.
The voice-activated iPhone assistant then responded with recommendations for several schools in the Valparaiso area — an interaction the boy posted in a screenshot on social media, police told the paper. One of the kid’s friends saw the post and quickly called cops, according to police.
The boy, who attends Chesterton Middle School, was being held at Porter County Juvenile Detention Center on intimidation charges Friday.
But cops don’t believe he posed a real danger because he made no specific threat on a person or place, officers told the paper, saying it was likely meant to be a joke.
“The threat is not believed to be credible at this time; however, these types of communications are taken very seriously by the Valparaiso Police Department and our community,” police said in a press release. “We continue to work with the Valparaiso Community Schools to ensure the safety of the students and staff.”
The incident remains under investigation, police said
via: https://nypost.com/2019/02/01/boy-13-arrested-after-telling-siri-he-wanted-to-shoot-up-a-school/
Gov. Ralph Northam ‘deeply sorry’ after photo emerges from his 1984 yearbook showing blackface, KKK hood
RICHMOND — Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) on Friday acknowledged appearing in a “clearly racist and offensive” photograph in his 1984 medical school yearbook that shows a man in blackface and another in a Ku Klux Klan robe.
“I am deeply sorry for the decision I made to appear as I did in this photo and for the hurt that decision caused then and now,” he said. “This behavior is not in keeping with who I am today and the values I have fought for throughout my career in the military, in medicine, and in public service. But I want to be clear, I understand how this decision shakes Virginians’ faith in that commitment.”
Northam, 59, did not say if he was the man dressed in blackface or Klan robes. Calls for his resignation came from the NAACP, the Republican Governors’ Association, the state’s Republican party and some national Democrats – including presidential hopefuls Kamala Harris and Julian Castro.
“Black face in any manner is always racist and never okay,” tweeted Derrick Johnson, NAACP president. “No matter the party affiliation, we can not stand for such behavior, which is why the @NAACP is calling for the resignation of Virginia Governor @RalphNortham.”
Members of the state legislative black caucus said Friday night stopped short of demanding Northam step down but said “what has been revealed is disgusting, reprehensible, and offensive. We feel complete betrayal. The legacy of slavery, racism, and Jim Crow has been an albatross around the necks of African Americans for over 400 years. These pictures rip off the scabs of an excruciatingly painful history and are a piercing reminder of this nation’s sins. Those who would excuse the pictures are just as culpable.”
But a statement released by the governor in the early evening indicated that he would continue his work.
The image in the yearbook from Eastern Virginia Medical School was on a page with other photos of Northam and personal information about the future governor. Northam, a pediatric neurologist, graduated from medical school in 1984 after earning an undergraduate degree from Virginia Military Institute.
The yearbook page is labeled Ralph Shearer Northam, along with pictures of him in a jacket and tie, casual clothes and alongside his restored Corvette.
It shows two people, one in plaid pants, bow tie and black faced, and the other in full Klan robes and a hood. Both men appear to be holding beer cans. The person in black face is smiling. Beneath the photo, Northam lists his alma mater, an interest in pediatrics and offers a quote: “There are more old drunks than old doctors in this world so I think I’ll have another beer.”
Jack Wilson, chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia said Northam should step down. “Racism has no place in Virginia,” Wilson said in a statement. “These pictures are wholly inappropriate. If Governor Northam appeared in blackface or dressed in a KKK robe, he should resign immediately.”
Vivian Paige, a long-time political activist in Norfolk who has known Northam since he first ran for office, said she was distraught over the news and felt Northam should step down.
“I’m disappointed and I believe that he can’t lead the party any more,” said Paige, who is African American.“Ralph and I are a year apart in age. It really cuts to the bone to me that someone would do that at our age. Our generation – the tail end of the Baby Boom – we grew up in an integrated society. How could you not know that was wrong?”
The yearbook image was first posted Friday by the website Big League Politics, a conservative outlet founded by Patrick Howley, a former writer for the Daily Caller and Breitbart.
The Washington Post independently confirmed the authenticity of the yearbook by viewing it in the medical school library in Norfolk.
The revelation comes after a wild week for Northam, who was accused by Republicans of advocating infanticide after he made comments defending a bill that would have lifted restrictions on late-term abortions. It was more surprising because Northam has billed himself as the political antidote to Donald Trump – an aw-shucks leader with a boring speaking style and a reputation for honesty. He gained the trust of Republicans, who worked with him last year to pass Medicaid expansion after four years of resisting it under previous governor Terry McAuliffe (D).
House Speaker M. Kirkland Cox (R-Colonial Heights), Senate Majority Leader Thomas K. Norment (R-James City) and other Republican leaders released a statement Friday that called the yearbook image “a deeply disturbing and offensive photograph”
In his statement, Northam said that he recognized “that it will take time and serious effort to heal the damage this conduct has caused. I am ready to do that important work. The first step is to offer my sincerest apology and to state my absolute commitment to living up to the expectations Virginians set for me when they elected me to be their Governor.”
A Northam ally, Senate Minority Leader Richard L. Saslaw (D-Fairfax) defended the governor.
“His whole life has been about exactly the opposite and that’s what you need to examine, not something that occurred 30 years ago,” said Senate Minority Leader Richard L. Saslaw (D-Fairfax). “While it’s in very poor taste, I would think no one in the General Assembly who would like their college conduct examined. I would hate to have to go back and examine my two years in the Army. Trust me. I was 18 years old and I was a handful, OK? His life since then has been anything but. It’s been a life of helping people, and many times for free.”
He later said he agreed with the legislative black caucus.
Sen. Richard Stuart (R-Stafford), one of the governor’s closest friends, said he had not been able to talk to Northam about the yearbook and did not know what to make of it, but stood by him.
“He’s my friend and I will always stand up for him,” said Stuart, who also took exception to claims that Northam had advocated infanticide. Joan Naidorf, whose husband’s yearbook page sits opposite Northam’s in the yearbook, said she was surprised the photos are only now just coming out, given Northam’s stature in Virginia politics.
“We’ve often wondered over the last 10 years or so why someone didn’t dig this up sooner,” said Joan Naidorf, a non-practicing emergency room physician who lives in Alexandria.
When she first saw the photo shortly after the yearbook was published, Naidrorf said, “I thought: `That’s awful.’ I assumed it was something at a drunken frat party.”
Naidorf said she didn’t know when or where the photos were taken. Her husband, Tobin, wasn’t available Friday. He had met Northam a few times when they worked medical rotations together, but weren’t friends, she said.
Eastern Virginia Medical School allowed students to pick their own photos for their yearbook page, Naidorf said. Her husband chose their engagement photo and other personal pictures. Another student chose a picture of men also in blackface and dressed as woman in what appears to be a variety show routine.
Northam has built his 12-year political career on a clean-cut image as a soft-spoken doctor and Army veteran who headed Honor Council at VMI, a demanding job that required him to pass judgement on fellow students who lied or violated the school’s honor code.
First elected to the state Senate from Norfolk in 2007, Northam has had a charmed political career. He was courted by Republicans because of his conservative leanings, and was identified early by then-Gov. Tim Kaine (D) as future governor material because of his experience in both health care and the military. Northam served in the Army for eight years after medical school, treating soldiers wounded in the Gulf War.
He later walked that back and now says it should be up to localities, but said recently that his personal belief is that such statues are harmful.
Northam, 59, grew up on the Eastern Shore of Virginia in the fishing village of Onancock. His father was a judge and his mother was a school teacher. Northam and his brother attended desegregated public high school, where Northam played basketball and baseball.
The origins of blackface date to minstrel shows from the 19th century, when white actors covered themselves in black grease paint to portray African Americans but in a cartoonish, dehumanizing way. The minstrel shows put forth racist notions of African Americans as primitive and inferior.
Last week, Michael Ertel, Florida’s secretary of state resigned after the emergence of photos from 2005 of him in blackface, apparently mimicking victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Former NBC journalist Megyn Kelly stirred controversy in October for defending blackface in Halloween costumes.
Suspected DUI Driver Allegedly Left Her 2 Toddlers Inside Car in Freezing Temps for Hours While at Kansas Bar
A Kansas mother is in jail, accused of leaving her two small children inside a car for hours while she was at a bar, according to KTLA sister station WDAF in Kansas City.
The children were found as temperature plummeted to single digits early Wednesday morning.
A worker told WDAF that a 26-year-old woman, later identified as Tiara Dillon, came into Playerz Sports Bar in Lawrence about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Over the course of almost 4 hours, bartenders said she ordered several drinks and made erratic remarks. At 1:30 a.m., they’d had enough and kicked her out.
Dillon went out to the parking lot, and apparently, her car wouldn’t start. Workers said she tried to go back to the bar, and that’s when bar employees called police.
Officers said Dillon had left the area, but they found her car nearby. Two children, ages 2 and 3, were inside. The temperature outside at the time in Lawrence was 6 degrees with a wind chill of -12.
Dillon was arrested on suspicion of DUI and aggravated child endangerment. She’s expected in court Thursday.
Police said the kids weren’t injured, but child protective services are also now investigating.
“Being in a car is not predictable, and they can be exposed to those temperatures that cause medical issues,” said Dr. Travis Langner, University of Kansas Health System pediatric critical care division manager.
Doctors at the University of Kansas Health System say extreme temperatures are dangerous for small children. Their bodies can’t adjust to the deep freeze easily, and it only takes a drop of a couple degrees in body temp for mild hypothermia to kick in.
“Definitely within minutes you could have that drop in what we call core temperature of the body. Once it gets below 95 degrees, we start becoming very concerned and want those patients to present to the hospital because part of the treatment is to re-warm them a specific way that can’t be done at home,” Langner said.
It is also important to know even running your car heater with small kids inside can be dangerous, according to experts. If children get too hot inside coats and blankets and can’t take them off, they can get sick from being overheated, too.